Focus

What is your focus? What do you give your close or narrow attention and concentration to? When something happens in your life - a situation that is a surprise to you, a person saying something you did not expect, having to deal with something that you wish would not have happened - what do you place your attention and focus on when these things happen? This is the first decision that will shape your future and your destiny.
For example a heard a story about a family that had no food for thanksgiving and someone brought them food. One member of the family focused on the fact that they did not have food and someone had to give it to them. Another member of the family focused on the fact that they had food. Seems really simple, but it led them it to come up with different meanings about themselves and therefore different decisions about what to do. (I will talk more about this in the morning.) This was the first decision that shaped the direction in which their lives would head. Paul was faced with the same decision about focus.

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Paul had to make a decision to focus on appreciating the gift that he was given, rather than focusing on the handicap that he was given. It was a decision of where to place my attention, where to place my focus. When we focus on something we have to give it meaning. When something is given a meaning we have a feeling about it and we take action. Paul focused on the gift, and focusing on this as a gift gave it meaning. The meaning meant he felt joyful about it, he could take it "with good cheer."

This was a surprise for Paul. We all say that we like surprises, but really on the good kind. All the other surprises in life that we do not like - the car breaking down, the loss of a job, a change of plans - we call these things problems. When they are called problems, or handicap in Paul's case, we focus on the negative aspect of them. Really they are not problems, but opportunities to learn, to grow, to understand, and to be made stronger by our Creator. What will you focus on this day when a surprise or handicap shows up? What you choose will determine the next decision that will shape you and your destiny, what meaning will you give it?

Namaste'