Originally published on April, 29 2020
Where is your focus?
One evening some 24 years ago, my focus was totally on surrounding events which I viewed as life altering in the greatest way. My wife and I had gotten in our car for a 3 hour drive home having gotten the diagnosis of a terminal illness that had befallen her. The lengthy afternoon discussion had revolved around what she had, her choices that would seemingly affect how she would die, and the timeframe in which that event would likely occur. There had also been hints of an experimental, extremely heinous and dangerous procedure that offered some hope for longer term living if not a cure. There were zero thoughts in my mind outside of this matter. Recurring times of tears commenced at this point.
As I started the car, it dawned on me that there was a single question that 1 – I had no way of answering and 2 – I feared beyond almost anything I could imagine. “What choice do I make?” was that question. My wife’s dependence on my thoughts and provision had been well formed over years of marriage by that time, and I knew it was sure to come. For some 20 minutes of driving I thought of nothing other than the circumstance with interspersed prayers that I would not be asked “the question”. At that point, the question came.
As the words of the question commenced, the indescribable darkness and heavy weight that pressed down on that car and my shoulders multiplied many times over. As I sat numbly without a clue as to what to do or say, my mouth suddenly opened, and I began to speak . . . to speak words I had not thought about or in any way concocted on my own. I cannot explain this – at all. What came out was in essence, “If the Lord ordains that you will die today, we’re about to be in a traffic accident or something . . . if He ordains that you live to be 100, you will. So, if you seek His mercy, help and guidance, you cannot make an incorrect decision”.
Again, I can in no way explain what occurred. What I can tell you is that immediately – and I do mean immediately – the car almost seemed to lift off of the ground, everything seemed to lighten up visibly and the ponderous weight of what seemed to be the entire world simply evaporated from my mind and shoulders. From that very moment forward, her decision was made and all talk and focus was on where we were going to eat. There were no more tears and precious little thought of the matter other than procedural and practical issues pertaining to it. That was 24 years ago, and I’m about to get her approval to send this to Pastor Dennis for consideration.
So . . . today, ANY source, ANY media outlet, ANY pundit, ANY talking head, ANY source of secular opinionating that exists will force us into coronafocus. If on the contrary, we focus on He Who Never Changes and, thankfully, is also our hope and salvation, we will find ourselves in a far better place in every respect. A new concept? I say no. Those who focused on Moses’ bronze serpent lived past their serpent bites (Numbers 21:6-9). As long as and ONLY as long as Peter focused on Jesus, he walked on water (Matthew 14:28-31). Matters at hand are greatly altered when our focus is on our Lord.
So from personal experience, I feel comfortable with altering the words of Joshua 24:15, “but as for me and my house, we will serve (and focus on) the Lord”. This is the verse our house was built on both figuratively and literally, and we will use this verse to retain our sanity and focus in these times. As we all recently celebrated, Jesus is quite alive and quite well . . . may our eyes and focus remain on Him.
John Jaschke
