Distractions!

Distractions are all around; causing us to look here and there until we are spinning around dizzy and confused.  Currently, life seems at an epic high for distraction…friends struggling with illness, others with job and financial problems, the media coverage of the upcoming election, natural disasters, with more common daily struggles like what to make for dinner and do we need to buy a snow blower this year?  There are points in time I would just like to curl up and hide for a few weeks and hope life is different when I reemerge.  However, that is not the life I am called to live.  So amidst all this distraction, where do we need to focus to stop the spinning?

 I am not much of a dancer, nor have I ever received training to be one.  I have heard it explained that to master one’s ability to spin multiple times in a row, dancers need to pick a fixed point to focus on with each revolution.  This has me thinking about where I fix my gaze these days.  If I don’t properly pick my fixed point, the distractions will have me spinning one way and my surroundings another.  “I lift my eyes towards the mountains.  Where will my help come from?  My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalms 121:1-2)  In this ever-changing world, there is only One who never changes.  Fixing my eyes upon Him and maintaining this stance is what keeps me from falling over dizzy.

 During my day, as distractions come at me, grabbing my attention and causing me to lose my focus for a moment.  To prevent this loss of focus lasting too long, I have implemented points throughout my day to help refocus my gaze and steady myself.  Spending time reading God’s Word, listening to music that redirects my attention to Him and conversing in prayer periodically all help fix my eyes to Him who anchors me in this chaotic world. 

 If all the spinning has you agitated and dizzy, try fixing your eyes on the One who created it all.  He has a plan—and if you read the final chapter, you can know how it all ends.  Focusing with each revolution takes practice.  Some days will go better than others, but He offers to help.  Slowly, you will become more centered and less spun.  The distractions will still be there, but you will be more grounded in the dance.