Finish Strong: Focus

by Desi Ash

I am not a distance runner. I am a sprinter. For those who don’t understand running, distance equals long and sprints are short. The difference is huge. Especially for me, someone who has sports induced asthma.

I loved running track. My strengths were the 100 and 200-meter dash and the 4 x 100-meter relay. I was part of a track team for two years by the time I entered middle school and needed to run the mile for gym class.

My sixth-grade year the mile ended up being my most embarrassing moment. I knew I could run, so I knew there was no reason I shouldn’t be able to get the time that would equal an A. What I didn’t know as a sixth grader was how to properly breathe while running a mile. Breathing and running isn’t something that really goes hand in hand for a sprinter. Needless to say, my sixth-grade self, ended up in the nurse’s office after passing out from a really bad asthma attack.

It was that day that I learned in order for me to do any amount of distance running I needed to focus on my breathing.

The same could be said about other embarrassing or not so proud moments in my life, where I realized what I really needed to do was change my focus.

What is your limit? Is it having an asthma attack because you are running from one thing to the other with no break? Is it yelling at the dog because you just can’t take one more person or thing needing your attention? Or is it completely shutting down because you just can’t take trying to make everything work anymore?

We all have a limit. We all try to pack as much in as we can because we know that we won’t get these moments back. We focus on making sure that everyone has eaten and brushed their teeth before leaving for school, or that they have arrived to practice with all of their gear, or that all the bills get paid in a timely manner. Sometimes we focus on just making it through the day because our energy is spent.

But what if we are focused on the wrong thing? What if all we needed to focus on was God and the prize He has for us. The prize of eternity with God, as Paul shares in Philippians 3:14:

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

In the juggling act of your kids’ schedules and your own personal life and the household chores don’t lose focus on God. Don’t set aside your time of prayer because you need 15 more minutes of sleep. Don’t set aside reading your Bible because your inbox has 45 unread emails. Don’t set aside nurturing your relationship with God because you spent all day tending to the needs of your family.

At the end of the day it’s not going to matter if your cable bill is past due, your son forgot to tell you about a big project due tomorrow, or that you were 30 minutes late picking up your kids after practice. What will matter is your relationship with God and how you modeled that to your kids when life was busy.

Press on towards the goal and don’t lose focus.