losing focus

December 7, 2004

as we move through life, we can lose focus on the things that matter, the things that count, the things that are really worth living for. we get so caught up by life, that we simply forget. often, it's not because we're trying to or we want to, it just happens. eventually, we live life just like any other person would. doing the routine. living the mundane. the power of the Cross, the majesty and wonder of Christ in us, no longer elicits the same awe and wonder it once did. we slide into life, pulled by all the world has to offer. the sad thing about this? some Christians are okay with that.

i'm not. i always wonder if there's more to live than what i'm living now. i wonder if the Christian life is supposed to be so bland, so mundane. my response is always that there has to be something more, something greater. there has to be! we should be living lives full of power, full of excitement because the holy Son of God is in us! we should be living on the edge, not on our seats. we should be the ones daring to walk on water, the ones daring to move into foreign land, the ones daring to really live.

i was reminded of this in the pool a few weeks ago. i always wear swimming goggles to protect my eyes from the chlorine. when my goggles were new, they stayed clear the whole 30 minutes when i was in the pool. now, not so much. today, the goggles were completely clear when i began, but by the time i finished, it was a different story. i could barely see what was in front of me; everything was blurry and distorted. i noticed that my vision was getting worse and worse as i swam. had i stopped, the goggles would have remained in their original state: perfectly clear.

that's how it's like for us in life. we start off clear. our focus is on God, and we know where we're headed (maybe not all the details, but we know the direction). but as time goes on, our vision gets more and more distorted. distorted with life and the things of the world. we lose focus. we lose perspective. eventually, we no longer know where we're going because we can no longer see it clearly.

i'll use school as an example. our university education or school year may have started off well, with our understanding of God's purposes for us to be on campus and in our specific program, but as our education progresses, we get bogged down by stressors like exams, homework, assignments and projects. soon we begin grumbling and complaining of all the things we have to do. our once clear vision of our purpose on campus is gone. we barely remember why we're there to begin with; everything becomes foggy and distorted.

this phenomenon doesn't happen to everyone, but it does happen. we're all prone to it because we all get caught up with life. whatever we're doing, one thing is for sure, we need to take a step back and think about what we're doing and why we're doing it. we need to refresh ourselves regularly.

it's really not so hard to restore our vision. in the pool, all you need to do is take off the googles for a second, dip them in the water and shake them off, and put them back on your face. and presto, your vision is restored. in the same way, we simply need to return to God and seek Him. He will restore our vision. He will make our paths straight. He will show us where to go.

"let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" - hebrews 12:2

Posted by Leo Chan at December 7, 2004 11:01 PM