Focus

Losing your focus is easy to do. All it takes is a rude comment by a coworker, a broken home appliance, a development of a bad habit, or the gradual loss of a good habit. The easy part is that it's gradual. It's imperceptible at first. Oh, it's just for today, you think to yourself. Or, for right now, while I'm dealing with this, it's okay. But then you find yourself weeks, months, or years later, and you wonder how you ended up where you are, especially considering where you started.

Sometimes you've just got to step back and and take a good look at your life and at yourself. Are you headed in a direction that you like? Is your heart developing in a way that is pleasing to your Maker and Savior?

The past month has been a difficult one for me. I've been so caught up in all the details that seem to pile up in daily life. It can be overwhelming. But I came to a point that I realized I need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and ask God for help. It's definitely been one of those "can't see the forest for the trees" kind of a month.

Maybe you need to do some soul-searching about what your purpose in life is. Maybe you need to get some wisdom from Scripture. Maybe you need to sit down with God and tell Him about your frustrations, fears, and hurts.

Here are some verses to encourage you:

"Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm" (Proverbs 4:25-26).

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

"...[F]ix your thoughts on Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1b).

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:2a).

"And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).

And isn't God the only one whose opinion of you truly matters? Live to please God, and everything else will fall into place.