Staying Focused

This is a three or four page study that I did a couple of years ago; I am going to break it up into three or four segments to share with my FB friends. I will put them on seperatly, on different days. Stay Focused [] You become effective by being selective. It’s human nature to get distracted. We’re like gyroscopes, spinning around at a frantic pace but not getting anywhere. Without a clear purpose you keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, etc., hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. You think, “This time it will be different,” but it doesn’t solve your real problem -(which is) lack of focus. There is an old proverb that says, “jack of all trades but master of none.” That pretty well sums up a person who is not focused. The power of focusing can be seen in light. With a magnifying glass the rays of the sun can set paper on fire. But when light is focused even more as a laser beam, it can cut through steel. Nothing is as potent as a focused life. The men and women who make the greatest difference in life are the most focused. For instance the Apostle Paul said, “I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing” (Php 3:13 TLB). Paul’s obsession was to make Christ known. So if you want your life to have impact, “focus it!” Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less. Turn away from even good activities and do only that which matters most. Never confuse activity with productivity. Poet William Matthews wrote, “One well-cultivated talent, deepened and enlarged is worth a hundred shallow faculties. [abilities that we were born with] The first law of success in this day when so many things are clamoring for attention is concentration - to bend our energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left.” Does focus come easily or naturally? No, it’s a discipline that must be practiced every day. Focus does 3 things for you: (#1) It keeps you on target. We find ourselves pulled in a dozen different directions, spending much of our time and energy on things we don’t really care about. Author Don Marquis put it this way: “Ours is a world where people don’t know what they want, and are willing to go through hell to get it.” The Bible says: “Let your eyes look straight ahead….Do not swerve to the right or the left” (Pr 4:25-27 NIV). (#2) (focusing) Increases your energy. Attempting everything, like attempting nothing, will suck the life out of you. Focus gives you energy. Admiral Richard Byrd, the Polar explorer, said, “Few men come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.” One of the reasons those wells go untapped is lack of focus. The mind doesn’t reach toward achievement until it has clear objectives. (#3) (focusing) lifts you. It’s been said that “the world stands aside to let anyone pass, who knows where he or she is going.” In a sea of mediocrity, (average- ness) just knowing what you want to do and making an effort to pursue it, distinguishes you from almost everybody else. PART #2 TOMORROW