Where Is Your Attention This New Year?
I’ve been so distracted this year. My family and other people I dearly love have suffered loss and hardship, and all these things occurred in the midst of strong tension in the world around me. Pain. Fear. Suffering.
Because I can get distracted, it is vital for my heart to focus on Jesus. Distraction takes my attention away from Him and puts it on my concerns instead. By nature, distraction pulls our attention from the Rock and tries to get us to focus on fears, worries, and the weight of the world. But when Jesus is our focus, recognizing the comfort of God becomes much easier for our hearts.
I need to realign myself with Him on a regular basis. Here’s what I do: I close my eyes, open them, and begin to see and feel His presence with me. It is a matter of faith. His comfort and His reality—the understanding that He’s so real, more real than anything else—are with me, if I will open my eyes and see them.
Here at the end of this wild, difficult year, I can honestly say that my heart is filled with thankfulness, hope, and joy. How is this possible? Because God’s Spirit pursues me with much love, and He keeps teaching me practical ways to focus on Jesus.
Beloved child of God, that’s what He’s doing with you too. Practice giving Jesus your attention and see what happens.
1. Focus on how real Jesus is.
If you feel scared, confused, or alone, learn to focus on how REAL Jesus is to you. Focus on all His qualities—who He is, what He’s like, how He acts—and how He wants to help you become more like Him.
I know what to recommend in this situation because of the things I struggle with. I have to practice refocusing on Jesus myself. I can start thinking in ways that peel away my peace, but when I go back to focusing on Jesus, everything becomes clear again. I feel like my life returns to being beautiful and loving and wonderful.
2. Choose to focus on good things.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Phil. 4:8 NIV)
I admire many things about Leon, but one thing that consistently stands out to me is that he loves to focus on what is good. He sets his attention on Jesus all the time, and this affects the way I see Leon. It makes this wonderful man I married more beautiful to me.
Learn to focus on what is good. If your mind is not fixed on the good things listed in Philippians 4:8, go back to that place of focusing on His goodness.
3. Declare the blessings of God.
Praise the Lord, my soul!
All my being, praise his holy name!
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and do not forget how kind he is.
He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
He keeps me from the grave
and blesses me with love and mercy.
He fills my life with good things,
so that I stay young and strong like an eagle. (Ps. 103:1–5 GNT)
Declare the Lord’s blessings—speak them out loud. What has He done for you? What has He shown you about Himself? What has He told you about who you actually are?
Purposefully declare the blessings of the Lord. Write them down and declare them regularly.
4. Choose to rejoice in the Lord.
Listen to the glad shouts of victory in the tents of God’s people:
“The Lord's mighty power has done it!
His power has brought us victory—
his mighty power in battle!”
…This is the day of the Lord’s victory;
let us be happy, let us celebrate! (Ps. 118:15–16, 24 GNT)
The Lord is a greater delight than we can understand. Delighting in Him takes us into that place of having our dreams fulfilled. Everything we want in life comes out of loving the Lord, and He LOVES it when we love Him back. That’s one of the core points in Becoming the One: loving our God back.
5. Practice unity on purpose.
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20–21 NIV)
That passage is the heart of Becoming the One. It is my heart and Leon’s heart—to be one: one with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and one with each other. That is also my prayer for all of our Becoming the One family—that we would know Jesus more, that we would love Him more, that we would understand His love for us, and that we would be one.
As 2020 rolls into 2021, the best to you and your family. May the desires of your heart be accomplished this coming year and daily in your life. I know God loves you so much that every little thing—every desire and dream you have—will happen in your life. May you keep receiving His amazing love and impart it to others through everything you do.
Interested in reading more about dating, relationships, and your walk with God? Here are a few articles on related topics:
For more information on sex, marriage, and finding the person who is right for you, get a copy of Becoming the One by Salomé Roat. Click here to learn more. The book is also available in Spanish.