FOCUS – VISION – this seems to be the theme that God is laying on the heart of so many of His believers. But what I believe He is calling us to focus on, is HIM!

What I have found is that we can get so wrapped up and “focused” on trying to determine what His plan is for our life -often expecting it to be some big grandioso life-altering event – that we miss the bigger picture and the more intimate moments. We miss a lot of time just being Mary as we frantically search for the next thing like Martha.

He wants us to just sit at his feet and learn His character through reading His Word. (And we end up learning a lot about ourselves in the process – it’s our owners manual).

He wants us to just carve out 15 minutes to find a quiet place and shut the door and pour it all out to Him. (He wants to hear from you).

And then, He’ll move in your life and you will be a light to others. There is a bible verse that says “Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God” and then it goes on to say that basically everything else will then fall into place. Sometimes it is a grandioso life-altering event. But many times, in fact most times, it’s us realizing the importance of just simply using our talents and gifts and being a light to those around us. No bright lights, no fame, no fortune – just a genuine heart to love others as Jesus loves them. Our learning to listen for that still small voice and heeding the guidance of the Holy Spirit when he says to move.

I said all that to say this: Talk to God – find your gifts – what do you enjoy doing? And then use that for God’s glory. This post was prompted today by my seeing the cards below on desks at work. You see, there is a special lady at our church who found one of her gifts. She loves to send cards. And she loves to create cards. And during the pandemic every person in our directory got a post card with scripture every single week (with no return address). The members of our church family have said over and over again how much this blessed and encouraged them during a difficult time! They tell of how they have them all, in a pile, and pull them out and read them from time to time.

A couple of months ago we had our last women’s event about prayer. She hand-wrote almost 100 of these post cards for the ladies to take home. I had a few extra from the event in my car. It was Wednesday morning bible prayer group at work and I grabbed them and took them into work with me and passed them out to the team who was there that morning. Today as I walked through the shop – I saw a couple posted on monitors. As I asked them if I could take a picture of it I heard the same thing… “I can be having a bad day and look up and see that, and it helps. It helps keep me FOCUSED.”

The lady who makes these wanted it to be a secret as long as possible – never looking for attention – only to love others as Jesus loves them. And in the process, she has touched many lives. The point I’m trying to make is that it’s often the smallest moments that we downplay or often dismiss – that come from a heart for Jesus – that produce THE FINEST fruit.

Live in anticipation and expectation! Ask yourself – how can I be a light to those around me today?