For some reason, I thought about a magnifying glass this week. Years ago, we had one. We took it outside in the bright summer sunlight with a piece of newspaper and held the magnifying glass at a certain distance from the paper. That concentrated the magnified light to make a little, bright yellow circle on the newsprint. The sunlight had to condense through the magnifying glass to just the right spot. The process burned a hole in the paper. That was fascinating to a nine-year-old.
To get anything done in a timely fashion, one must focus on the objective. The focusing, regardless of the time necessary, is to complete the task. The journey to completion may be short or long. Whatever its length, the focus is required to see the desired result.
So, what is your focus? What is your project? Is the end in sight, or is it only the next step nearing completion?
For me, it’s just the next step. The path has been long. The hours consumed are beyond counting. Times of discouragement have come and gone. Setbacks and bumps in the road have been there, but focus keeps me going.
The project is not mine; it’s God’s. It belongs to Him. If it were not His, I probably would have given up by now. Obedience is my reason for not quitting. I do not want to stand before God and say I didn’t finish what He told me to do. That is the reason I’ve stayed focused. By His grace, I will see the end result for His credit.
When Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ,” I had no idea it would apply to me two-thousand years later. This verse is that magnifying glass to me. It means having the right focus on bringing about the desired result, regardless of the potholes and the roadblocks. All they mean to me is that there is another route. The new untraveled road is somewhere before me. I need to focus on finding it. Then He will have completed the project—all in His timing.
