Tag: focus

Embarking on “Hard-Ship”

~ Barbara ~ 1 Comment

Hard-ship is the vessel no one wants to board. When we hear the alert: “Rough waters ahead,” we batten down the hatches and prepare for a storm. When health, relationship, or financial crises threaten, we shudder at the thought of facing choppy waters, but storms are unavoidable. No one goes through life without them.

Hard-ship is the barge that slowly pushes forward with its heavy load. The only way to safely move ahead and avoid a shipwreck is to put our trust in God.

Remarkably, we can have peace in the storm, despite the enormity of the unwelcome load. We can be assured of safekeeping and confident in the promise that God mysteriously makes all things work together for our blessing (Romans 8:28). We are merely crew members with limited control of our ship or our destiny. But we have a Captain who is in full control! He has power, capabilities, and knowledge we cannot fathom.

Let Him be our focus in the midst of a storm.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7

A Change in Perspective

~ Barbara ~ 1 Comment

I read these words by Charles Spurgeon and couldn’t resist sharing them:

Life is longing, sighing, crying, wasting away, and desiring.

Heaven is enjoying, possessing, and delighting one’s self in God.

Life is failure, disappointment, and regret.

These emotions are over when death comes,  

For glory dawns with satisfaction and intense contentment.*

Much of our thought life is consumed with the present and its problems. Our emotions long for something better, but our eyes watch the surrounding turmoil and see life wasting away. Disappointments mount and regrets haunt. There’s a better way to live, better thoughts to entertain.

What if we didn’t focus on the next week or next year, but on our eternal future? What if our minds rehearsed Jesus’ promise of a perfect tomorrow, and we began to assimilate that truth into our hearts?

Our perspective will change, and we’ll see joy increase, hope blossom, and anticipation grow. Glory will dawn “with satisfaction and intense contentment.”

My peace swells, and the world seems brighter when I read those words!

*Charles H. Spurgeon, Beside Still Waters, p 222.

Keep your Eye on the Bell

~ Barbara ~ 2 Comments

Nine-year-old Zoe surprised me when she said she wanted to attempt the rock-climbing wall. I watched her harness up, admiring my granddaughter’s adventurous spirit. Once secure, she started the climb but didn’t get far when she began to struggle. Flailing, she finally pushed off and eased the rope to let herself down. Her face wore defeat and her lower lip quivered as she listed all the reasons she didn’t make it to the top. The footings were uneven, the wall grazed her knee, she got confused where to step next and which rock to grasp. We stood back and watched others nimbly climb the wall and ring the bell at the top, proclaiming their success. I knew Zoe would try again.

This time she scaled the wall easily and grinned down at me when the bell rang out her victory. Once her feet were back on the ground, I asked her why she succeeded this time. “I didn’t look at the footings at all and I shook it off when I hit the wall,” Zoe said. Then she added the zinger, “I just kept looking up at the bell.” Zoe learned a lesson that day that extended beyond a rock-climbing wall.*

Obstacles, insecurities, and fear are glaringly visible and hard to ignore. But God offers us a way to move past them that requires simple action but determined willpower. Isaiah gives us the key in chapter 40, verse 26:

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens.

In essence he’s saying, take your eyes off your problem and look up at your Creator. Let your focus be on the Problem-Solver, not on the problem. This simple action will change your perspective, raise your spirit, and give you hope.

*Taken from I Was Broken, Too, Four Paths to Restore Hope by Barbara Higby, page 20.