Focus!
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no
mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.
1Corinthians 2:9
“I can put it in the upper ninety
(top corners of the goal) any time I want,” Carson said, in
response to his soccer coach’s, “Show me whatchya got!”
“Blah, blah, blah! You’re puttin’
me to sleep! Don’t tell me…do it!” Coach K hollered.
Bam! Top right corner of the
goal.
“But can you do it again?”
Bam! Bam! Two more to follow the
first!
Coach said, “Do it again I’ll buy
you a milkshake.”
Bam! Perfect!
Coach decided to see if he could get
inside the kid’s head, “I knooow you can’t do it again,”
he goaded, with more than a little insolence, “You haven’t got
five in-a-row in you!”
Carson set the ball, lined up the kick,
and let it fly…right over top of the crossbar. “Crap…I knew I
was gonna miss it!” he conceded.
“That’s why you missed,” Coach K
said. “You lost focus. I watched your eyes drop to the ball in
preparation for the kick, but you closed them just before contact.”
He let that sink in. “It’s not enough to know how and where to
kick the ball, Carson. You took your eyes off the mark by letting me
distract and intimidate you. You have to learn to play through the
distractions. You have to remain focused on the end-result until that
end is achieved…every time!”
†
We can put in long hours of practice
and look great in our uniform. Then the whistle blows, and Bam!
we lose confidence and make stupid mistakes. But by allowing God to
use our adversity to teach us, these experiences can tune us up for
victory.
We should look to gain experience and
strength when subjected to distractions through adversity, gleaning
battle-wise confidence by focusing on God and what He can do, asking
for spiritual wisdom and strength.
We will all face adversity on
our way to the promise in today's text.
But, if we do as Coach K suggests:
remain focused on the end-result until the goal is achieved, we will
be able to focus on God through the adversity as we face each new
day.
Prayer
“Lord Jesus, adversity
and life’s trials try to distract me from Your promise, help me
remain focused on You and You alone. Amen.”
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