CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 801

“Focal Point”

2 Cor 4:16-18; 5:7-8 (ESV) So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. …we walk by faith, not by sight … and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

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I find it difficult to drive at night.  This difficulty is exponentially compounded when it is raining and your headlight beams are absorbed a few feet in front of you.  Add to that a road construction area with numerous orange barrels ‘guiding’ you into makeshift lanes and you know it would be safer to get out of the car and walk.  It is a miracle that I have not careened off of an unfinished road somewhere.

It is during such difficult driving circumstances that I find I must drive with extreme focus intensity.  I need to set my focal point on the path and not on the individual barrels and barricades in order to successfully navigate my way through the construction zone.  It is on such road trips that I cannot wait to get home.

Life is like that also with the rain of troubles, unexpected detours and rough patches.  Our time here on earth also requires that we intently focus on the path and not get caught up in the minutia of day to day distractions that compete for our attention.  Things are extremely difficult for so many people around the world right now.  Unemployment, people displaced from homes, wars, wildfires, floods, famine, earthquakes, political unrest and revolutions, nations at the brink of economic collapse and the list goes on and on.  It is at such times that the Lord would have us adjust our focal point and see the path that He has made for us in Christ Jesus.

For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life … – Matt 7:14

When our focal point is set incorrectly we try to attain ‘heaven on earth’.  We find ourselves envying those who live like the devil and yet enjoy prosperity.  Our prayers become ‘why me’ whining rather than worship, praise, and thanksgiving.

The chorus of the popular song ‘Where I belong’ by Building 429 says “All I know is I’m not home yet.  This is not where I belong.  Take this world and give me Jesus. This is not where I belong.” So much of the inspired Christian music of today seems to be echoing and directing our focal point toward Jesus Christ and eternity in heaven with Him.

May the Holy Spirit inspire your heart and mind to set your focus on seeking His kingdom and righteousness first with an eternal perspective in mind.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus … For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; – Phil 3:14-20