The Right Focus

Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

     “A farmer and his sixteen year old son were plowing when a bullhorn from the house summoned with an urgent message. The boy begged to operate the tractor alone. Dad relented with this clear instruction: ‘Son, the key to plowing a straight furrow lies in picking out an object across the field, then steadily driving the tractor in that direction.’ 

     When the father returned twenty minutes later, he was horrified at the squiggly S-shaped furrows. ‘Son’, he remonstrated, ‘I told you the key to plowing straight furrows was keeping your eye on a distant object and plowing straight toward it.’

     Tearfully the boy answered, ‘Dad, I did just what you told me, but there was no way I could get that cow to stand still.’”  (Reprinted from A Psalm In Your Heart by George O. Wood.)

The cute story above reminds us how easy it is to focus on the wrong thing. To help us learn from the boy’s mistake, we should consider the following:  

1. What are the cows in our lives or ministry responsibilities?
2. We cannot control these cows, no matter how much we want to or how hard
   we try.
3. Focusing on these cows leads only to frustration, resentment, disillusionment, and ironically disobedience.
4. We must focus on that which is un-changing, un-wavering, no matter the external conditions. Christ is the only one who fulfills that condition.
5. And, just as a thoroughbred race horse wears blinders to prevent unwanted distractions, God calls us to wear the blinders of His Word.

Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

1.     You say, I can’t do that. There is just so much to do. And it is so important.

2.     You say, the circumstances dictate my actions or reactions.

God says…FOLLOW ME!

Hebrews 12:2-3 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”