Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Keeping Your Focus
Keeping Your Focus
By Jennifer Flores
Having a positive attitude is a choice that is completely independent on what circumstances you are in. No matter what situation you are in, no matter what level of stress, no matter what difficulties you face; you have the power to keep a positive attitude. It is not always easy, but the power is yours! During this pandemic isolation has been really tough on me. I haven’t been able to spend any real time with my family and have not been very active in things I really enjoy doing. My husband and I both came down with covid and he was out of work for almost a full month. I had such a hard time staying away from my children during that time and depression was knocking at my door on some days. Churches are closed, vacations are cancelled, and I can’t even throw my child a birthday party to lighten the mood. The political and racial divisions are so bad right now and it feels like there is nothing good happening in the world. There was no doubt a lot of things to get you frustrated, anxious, and basically ready to give up. All of this might try to derail all that God was trying to accomplish during that time. I decided I had to focus on what I knew was positive. Somedays I didn’t do it as successfully as others, but when I did, I actually had a great time. The bad things were still there, but somehow they slipped into the background instead of the focus. When one of my children were young, I found a great example of this truth. When you take a picture, many cameras have a little square that pops up in the middle. It allows the camera to focus on what you are wanting the picture of. Here are two pictures taken one right after the other. One was focusing on my son, and the other was focusing on the tv in the background. Only what you are wanting to focus on is prominent. The rest is still in the picture, but it is a completely different outcome.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Why do we have to work at this? Why is it not natural to us? We tend to not keep our emotions in check. I noticed that one day I may feel like the luckiest woman in the world. I couldn’t imagine a better life for me. I feel so so blessed. The very next day I am feeling overwhelmed and find myself wondering how in the world I’m going to survive all the demands on me. What is the difference between the two days? I have the exact same husband, children, demands. One day is not really that much different from the one I was feeling so blessed on, but the second day I was focusing on the problems and not the big picture. We have to put the focus box on what we want to see: the blessings. If we don’t, we may miss blessings God has put in our paths. If we can do this the problems become the background and become fuzzy. One time I was coming in from the grocery store and my hands were full! My 2 year old was trying to wiggle free of my grasp, my baby was crying, and my keys were playing hard to get! I was getting frustrated but then I realized that the sun was getting ready to set. (I LOVE sunsets!!) I took care of the kids real quick, decided that the groceries could wait in the car, and ran out in the backyard to find there was an amazing sunset there and I’m sure it was just for me (jk)! It was there and then gone a few seconds later. I would’ve missed the whole thing and it was going on right in front of my eyes. How many times has this kind of thing happened? How many blessing do we miss that are right there? There’s beauty and good all around us we just have to notice it on purpose.
As women we understand that if we leave our hair to do whatever it wants to do, it would be completely out of control. Each strand would go its own way and it would be a mess. We spend quite a bit of money and not to mention time (our 2 most valuable things available to us) getting our hair to conform to a pattern that looks best to us. We use sprays, clips, irons, and all kinds of things to get it set. If we don’t do this to our hair we would not look near as good as we do, but if we don’t spend a few min (not even half the time and energy) doing this with our mind, it would change the kind of mother, wife, and friend we are. Leaving your mindset unmanaged would be much like leaving your hair unmanaged. It would go whatever direction it wanted taking you on the ride. You can determine whether you are going to be the kind of person who is excited about life or the person allows the troubles in this life to dictate your happiness.
Matthew 6:34 So don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries.
Remember you will go through many seasons and every one will have positives and negatives you choose what to focus on.
By not worrying I don’t mean you have to live in denial. You have to face difficult circumstances and address problems. Figure out a what you can do about them then try to rise above them. Don’t let them rob from you the joys of the season you are in right now. It’s easy to miss the now dreaming of the future. Don’t say “I’ll be happy when….” Be happy now. One example many people will relate to is when you are single and wishing you had that one special person to share life with. I remember feeling lonely especially around holidays. If I focused on the loneliness I would miss all the benefits of that time of singleness. Things like not having to worry about anyone else. Not having to consider someone else’s needs or feelings, not having to clean up after or cook for someone else. The time with the Lord is so much easier to find and enjoy as well. Then when you get married, you think “man I miss the single days” when I could do what I wanted and not worry about anyone else. Each season has it’s own benefits and draw backs. Don’t miss the season you are in right now! You will also have seasons of abundance and seasons of struggles. They all have a purpose in your life. Don’t try to get through them. Get everything you can out of the season even if it seems not much good is in it. Most likely looking back, you will see that God was there and He had a purpose in that time as well.
John 16:33-35 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.”