“Eyes for the Future: Maintaining Our Focus”

Wow! The world as we know it is changing right before our eyes. We are seeing a lot of things take place that could cause fear, uncertainty, and a loss of focus. We are seeing war, political division, and a spiritual decline within the Body of Christ. As we are coming upon the end of 2024, it is important to be sound-minded and alert like never before (1 Peter 4:7 AMP). To do this, we must understand something that’s going to be very vital, and that is: maintaining our focus. Maintaining focus will involve us submitting every plan to God and yielding ourselves to his drawing. 

This may seem a little deep to the carnal-minded believer, but no longer shall we just casually do things. Whatever we plan to do must be submitted to the Lord (Prov. 16:3). We must seek him about everything; before we buy that house, invest that money, write that book, attend/plan this event, go here or there, or do this or that. I know it sounds a bit taxing, but this is not meant to be taken in a religious way. It simply means this: “There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12 & Prov. 16:25). Deception is running rampant, and we’ve got to be sure that we are in the Father’s will. 

In order to maintain focus, we must also yield to the Father’s drawing. There are times (the most inconvenient times) when the Father will nudge us to do something or spend time with him, and like a toddler, we kick and scream and do what we want. However, the more we draw nigh to him, the more clarity we have. Think about how photographers bring a camera lens into focus. They adjust the distance between the lens on the sensor so that the light is precisely on the image, preventing a blurry vision. In the same manner, we have to maintain that closeness with the Father so that our focus is directly on him. There will be some things going on that will have us distracted and our energy depleted, but we must “set our affections (focus) on things above” (Colossians 3:2) and continue to push when we don’t feel like praying or studying the word. There may be increased mental warfare, but we must overcome it with the word. 

This is the hope that we have: “I was young and now I’m old, and I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken” (Psalm 37:25). Jehovah Gibbor is our strength, and those that walk in his truth and stay focused are protected and cared for. If we submit everything to him and yield to his drawing, we will have focus for the future.