Focused

“Focused” - Reference Photo Upper Left - Photo Credit - Les Liddle - and progression photos.

As I sat down to write this blog, I was going to start by saying that focus is a long-lost skill. But that’s not true. Walk into any public place where people are sitting or standing for an extended period, and what do you see? You see people, young and old, with their heads bent over their phones. In restaurants, waiting rooms, even at family gatherings, I challenge you to check this out for yourself. And in private, we do the same thing, don’t we?

This tells me that focusing our attention is not our problem. But WHAT we focus our attention ON can be a problem if what we are focusing on doesn’t merit our attention.

Let’s face it. We are easily distracted.

Case in point, writing this blog has been on my “to-do” list for longer than I care to admit. But I was distracted from starting it by other necessary tasks. And yes, if I’m honest, there were some unnecessary things that I chose to do instead of sitting at my keyboard and knocking this out. I’m finally getting to it because I know that if I don’t sit down and focus, it won’t get written.

We all know deep down inside that if we focus on what is going on around us, distracting us from our goal, we will never achieve it.

But here’s the deeper and more important question: what is your goal? Did you know that setting an overall goal for your life can help you keep those everyday goals more achievable? So let me ask you, what is the overall goal you seek to achieve in your life?

The goal of our lives as human beings is told to us clearly in Scripture. In numerous places we are told to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, all of our souls, and all of our minds, and we are to love others as we love ourselves. (Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 22:37, Deuteronomy 6:5) And we are told that if we seek this goal over everything else, we will enjoy the peace of God and will have all we need, both now and forever. (Matthew 6:19-34)

The Kingfisher reference photo represents to me what focus looks like and, in turn, what it can provide. With no distractions, keeping its eyes on the prize consisting of small fish and invertebrates, this bird swoops down on its prey. Equipped with excellent vision, it is capable of binocular vision and is thought in particular to have good color vision. When hunting prey underwater, it is able to judge depth accurately. This is amazing to me. If our Creator and God equips this bird with the ability to see and capture its food, how much more does He equip us to gain our objectives when we are diligent in our focus? 

Proverbs 4:25-27 says:

“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” (NIV)

Notice the writer doesn’t list a bunch of do’s and don’ts. The only thing required from us is to fix our gaze ahead on the goal God has given us. And when we do this, when we surrender our lives to God and choose to FOCUS on Him and what He says is important and true, God enables us to stay on the right path, and we will receive an eternal prize of life with Him. Our only requirement is to choose to trust Him and surrender our lives to Him.

It has taken me quite a while to realize this truth about surrender and focus. Surrender doesn’t come naturally to any of us, but I’m learning to put it into practice each day, sometimes each hour, each minute. And guess what?  It’s working. That really shouldn’t surprise me. God’s Word is True.

Focused" - Final - Wildlife Whispers - 2025 Colored Pencil and PanPastel on Stonehenge White Paper.

Therefore, my drawing, “Focused”, is a visual reminder for me to focus on what is truly important in this life, and to let all other distractions fall away out of sight. It’s a reminder that God equips me to do this daily; to surrender my will to His. He gives me binocular vision to see Truth in His Word. Gaining wisdom, I can judge my circumstances accurately and plan accordingly. I can move forward in confidence and assurance. And just as the kingfisher swoops in on its prey in a blur of glorious color, my focused life can become a beautiful example of God’s loving provision in the life of one totally surrendered to Him.