Tag: Focus

Breathe

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Breathe

“Give me a couple days to come up for air.” “I’m just now able to catch my breath.” “When things slow down and I can breathe again…”

Any of these sound familiar? We run around, stretching ourselves so thin, we forget to do the very thing that gives us life: breathe. Denying ourselves the space and opportunity to breathe reeks havoc on our bodies, raises our stress levels, and renders us virtually incapable of handling “the small stuff.”

The funniest part? We don’t even realize we’re not breathing! “Breathe…” I repeatedly used to hear during PT. I would focus so diligently on whatever task was immediately at hand, that apparently, I quite literally forget to breathe. And as I unknowingly held my breath, things increasingly became more and more difficult. You feel me? Am I alone on this one?

When God created Adam, He breathed life into him. When Jesus returned and revealed Himself to His disciples, He breathed on them in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Breath and breathing, you see, are vitally important in life—enough that the Bible specifically references it more than once.

When you breathe, you allow room to receive. You create a space that’s conducive to work within. You enable oxygen to flow through your body, which improves healing, performance, and a plethora of other beneficial items. So why on Earth do we cripple ourselves trying to do more, when it causes us to forget the basics?

Hilariously (or not so), I wrote this four years ago. I am profoundly aware of the divine timing in which my own words resurfaced in FB memories. Isn’t it incredible how God works both through and ahead of us? I appreciate His timing even when I can’t fathom the “why” of the moment. Here’s where I take a deep breath, sigh, and audibly exhale.

Friends, let’s learn to breathe again.
Let’s stop drowning ourselves in the “more” this world idolizes, preoccupying ourselves with the devil’s “what if’s,” and withholding the very thing that gives us life. Let’s become better in the basics…it may just be the breath of life that revives us, giving us the opportunity to breathe life into others alongside our own journey.
Breathe, my friends. Just breathe.

Feed

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Feed

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m nervous.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m always nervous before ‘x’…”

“It’s ok to be a little nervous, but sweetie, focus on what you want to feed.”

This reminds me of the two wolves parable. When a pair of similarly sized yet polar opposite wolves fight, who will win? The one that’s fed.

All too often, we focus on the wrong thing. Worse, it’s usually the reverse of what we want. Instead of working through the steps we know will put us on the right path, we wallow in the wrong places and wonder why we are coated in the very thing we want freedom from. We foolishly feed the wrong wolf.

It’s challenging to visualize something better when we are inundated by the inferior. Feel confident when cloaked in confusion. Unlike jumbo shrimp, internal oxymorons do not peacefully coexist—they only bring glorious defeat.

Why? Wouldn’t the desire for more override our “stuckness” in less? It should! But the bridge between the two is a nasty little letter word: work.

We don’t want to put in the work it takes to improve. The habit building practice on repeat required to reap the reward of reform. Running through the roadblocks or even better—face planting, getting up, wiping the mud off before it hardens, formulating a better strategy, then implementing. Rinse and repeat until it feels right. The only person who ever spoke their idea into existence wasn’t human, and yet He still worked! Chew on that for a moment…

Genesis Chapter 1 details God’s work in the beginning: He divided, named, produced, created…all action verbs! Only then, after six days did He rest…from all His WORK. Rest without work is a totally different four letter word: lazy.

“You say you doin’ work
But you’re asking where the couch at
How you doin’ work
When you’re asking where the couch at?”

TobyMac, “Till the Day I Die,” This Is Not A Test

Ouch! I felt that, talk about a gut punch.

Work is hard. I think we can agree on that as a common generalization, but it doesn’t have to be. It can simply be a process. Work as a means to an end. If we could earnestly get this concept through our thick skulls and make the mind shift, that’s genuinely the hardest part. From there, it’s one task at a time.

Focus on where you want to go, start with one step, then the next, and the one after that. Momentum is the best fuel, and once you get going, the easier it becomes. Just remember: focus on what you want to feed.

God did not create the Heavens, Earth, and all it’s splendor in a day. Where do we get the ridiculous notion that we can construct anything of lasting value with just a momentary flash of an idea without spending time working the kinks out? Think it’s our God complex. Ouf, that one hit was squarely on the jaw., and admittedly, I am staring directly into the mirror when I said it.

“The lazy will not get what they want, but those who work hard will.”

Proverbs 13:4 NCV

Dang, the punches just keep coming! But in truth, necessary, at least for me, to knock out my languid manner of thinking. I can think something to death, but it will never come to life without W-O-R-K. Trust me, I’ve tried!

So my friends, what’s the thing you’d like to do most? The thing you’d always envisioned for yourself? That reoccurring dream where you wake up smiling and think, “if only…” Our apathetic effort will get us nowhere. Let’s mold our mentality into something more—move past boldly claiming “that thing” for ourselves and begin the work process together. Will the effort be worth it? Absolutely! You won’t go it alone—I pledge to work along side you on my own endeavor. And if we do it right, our enterprise will encourage others. Focus on what you want to feed.

This Moment

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This Moment

Because we arrive late (again), I scan the general area where we used to sit. “Used to” is important since our invisible “reserved” marker is no longer observed. Our sporadic attendance of late, due to a variety of reasons, brings momentary panic as we proceed forward.

What if there aren’t any available seats near the aisle? Would we be able to settle in somewhere with minimal disruption? How am I to navigate through without making a complete spectacle of myself on crutches? Thankfully, we find a “suitable” location and join in the service during one of the last worship songs before the sermon begins.

I look up at my husband, who jumps right in singing the words on the screen. He seems content and focused on worship. My lips join in, however, my mind requires a bit of acclimation. Taking in my surroundings, I begin noticing all the things.

The person behind us is coughing, which is equivalent to the plague these days. Are they directly behind me? Do they seem “sick” or just have a tickle? Movement catches my eye, and I see someone I recognize, though he’s not sitting where he usually does. I wonder why? Was his “assigned seat” taken? Then the lighting bounces off the lead guitar with a flash, and I’m redirected toward the front by the beautiful melody offered in praise.

Pleadingly, I will my mind to focus on the purpose of our attendance: worship. Forgive me, Lord. I am a waif, easily distracted. My noticings should be of your glory and goodness, yet I find myself easily flustered by all that vies for my attention. Misled by meaningless noise.

Whom shall I follow? Let it be YOU Lord. Draw all of me to you. Remove all that fruitlessly clamors. Fashion an unbreakable strand upon my heart that only you control.

“Do not forget the agreement I made with you. And do not worship other gods. Instead worship the Lord your God. He will save you from all your enemies.”

2 Kings 17:38-39 ICB

I sat ashamed with the realization I had allowed the world governance over me. I deeply valued my ability to “notice things,” prided myself as an observer, placed undo importance on this; meanwhile, all this internal commotion caused confused misdirection away from things that truly matter. I’d relinquished power over my mind to the enemy, who rapidly fired flares beaconing for more attention, luring me further away from the most sovereign God.

I repent, and plead for forgiveness, knowing all the while it is already mine.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9 NIV

Friends, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a daily battle weeding out the false gods in my life. Things that I give pointless priority. And like most weeds, plucking does nothing when the roots remain intact—simply a temporary reprieve. Only complete removal, digging deep to eradicate all traces, will allow something more delightful to take up residence.

“We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect.”

Hebrews 12:1c-2a NCV

*sigh*

Maybe one day I’ll be strong enough to stop this battle once and for all, giving Him total dominion over me. There I go again, thinking this is about me—my strength, my ability. I can only offer this moment, fortified with the power of His Spirit, and rest with certainty that He will bridge the gap to the next on my journey closer to Him.

Let’s get REA/L together.