Meditation: focusing on the Big Picture:#1

Staying Tuned to the Big Picture

Picture this: a desk with computer paraphernalia & speakers, remnants of food and drink, photos, tv zapper, a few books, note paper, and other stuff. A set of papers is due this week and they need to be outlined. How to get focused and get the work done?

When as years go by, people start accumulating stuff—more sets of games, more books, more clothes, more TVs, more cars, more more, more. In many homes, garages used to be places where people put their automobiles. Back in the day, the average family felt good about having one car. Today, there’s often at least one for every person of driving age. The result of all this stuff fallout is that the cars no longer fit in the garage, (unless you have a house with three or four garages) because the garage is already full of stuff. So some bright person started building storage facilities. More places for more stuff!

Distractions abound in the study area. They abound in other parts of our lives, too. So much to do and so much stuff to wade through. We wonder: “Will I ever have enough time?” How do I prioritize? A simple lifestyle is hard to implement. Steven Covey, a prolific writer on putting values into motion, puts it this way: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” One of the Psalms says this, “I keep the Lord always before me (16.8).

Daily routines to keep the God as our focus is not a distraction from the main thing. And for where you are in life, God many not be the main thing for you. Maybe getting degree is the main thing. Maybe a healthy relationship with a significant other is the main thing. Maybe your sexuality, relationships to parents, your job, loneliness or stress is the main thing. Maybe figuring out your main thing is the main thing.

If you’re struggling, why not try something daring: Try God as your focus for a few days. Think about God being with you while traveling. Is the Lord in your car? Is the Lord in your attitude? Is the Lord in your relationships? Is the Lord with you in your degree search? Is God with you in your questioning? Is God around in your search for tickets to the perfect concert? (or event a better day at work?)

Imagine God is somewhere on your desk in that mess, maybe even under the pile, next to the used video and pin number. Who knows what you’ll find if you move that stack!


Psalm 16

Song of Trust and Security in God
A Miktam of David.
1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.” _
3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.
4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; _
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.
5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.
7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.