Ramblings from Retirement - Focus
By Lee Hemen
March 16, 2021

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. (Psalms 73:21-28 NIV)

I was reminded this morning as I sat and did my devotion that what we focus on, whether in life or for the day, will impact how we live. Now I know this is not some great new truth but it reminded me to be more focused on what is important.

These past several weeks several of my friends have lost family members. It is always tough when one loses a child, sibling or parent. Even the loss of a friend or other close relative can bring us momentary grief. It made me realize that each day we have is of our own making. We cannot blame others or God for the day given us because we decide how we live it, view it, and make our way through it.

My granddaughter, when she plays with her dolls, focuses on each one of them. She dresses each one, places them where she wants, and makes them walk, talk, and interact the way she desires. When she plays she is focused on the moment, on the world she is making for play. And it struck me that this is what we are to do as well. We are to focus our lives on the moment God has given us. Some of those moments may bring grief or some may bring joy but how we handle them, how we live them, how we focus our hearts says a lot about what we believe.

Asaph, the writer of this Psalm, had gotten discouraged by what he saw others doing in life. Those who seemed to have it all were living corrupt, contemptible, and easy lives while it seemed that those who loved God were being given the short end of life’s lottery. However in his moaning he came to the realization like I did that he was focusing on the wrong thing. He writes, “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.” This was what he had begun to see however he then realizes: “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?” Wow, what a wonderful truth here for us today!

I realized today that I have been focusing on what the world, this Nation, or people around me were doing instead of what I enjoyed and have in my relationship with the Lord. Poor myopic me. I realized like Asaph that the “earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

So dear child of the Lord if you are struggling today join me and Asaph and become a child at play again and focus on the moment and get yourself wrapped up in what God is doing with you right now.
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This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

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