THIS WEEK: A WORD ABOUT FOCUS

Written by Charles F. Stanley | It’s important that we acknowledge the significance of focus during this season of adversity and how the subject of our focus can ultimately shape our legacy.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been struck by the anxiety and disheartenment I have seen as I’ve talked to friends and loved ones. Certainly, a great deal of this has to do with the fact that we are facing uncertain times and significant challenges. The present changes in our schedules and patterns of living can make us emotionally vulnerable.

Perhaps you can identify with these feelings of helplessness and instability. You go to sleep imploring God for help and wake up feeling unsettled, useless, and insecure.

It is understandable. What I have seen repeatedly as I speak to people is that there is plenty to consume our focus. Whether it is the pandemic, the economic decline, the global political maneuverings, or what have you—it seems that there is more to think about that we can possibly wrap our minds around. And the truth of the matter is, we can overthink these issues until we are utterly obsessed and confounded by them. We can’t sleep. We cannot get away from them. We turn on the television, and there is more to baffle us. We are constantly praying about it all, but with fear about the problems rather than faith that God is at work through all of it.