FOCUS your eyes on the spiral…you’re feeling very distracted…

Whether taking a picture, studying for an exam or watching a movie, “focus” is essential. When Covid-19 hit and derailed plans for our missionary conference in Costa Rica and development of partnerships in Guatemala, I thought “OK, I’ll be able to focus and catch up on projects and correspondence”. Now, nearly half a year into this strange new world, I have way more in my inbox than when we started this whole thing! I didn’t anticipate how significantly the needs would increase with our partner ministries and missionaries, but neither did I anticipate all the residual clamor that has crept in through infection reports, lockdowns, international governmental responses (or lack thereof), and just plain, frankly useless noise.  Having to sift through such an amplified flow of information had me striving to work faster and longer just to keep up, yet neglecting to share with friends and supporters (both prayer and financial) the essentials of what we’re doing. Each morning I pray for our missionaries and projects in Central America, the Caribbean or around the world, and each morning I focus on something worthy of sharing with you and requesting intercession for. Yet by the time I sit down my inbox is screaming and my focus gets drown by other demands. So, I’m sharing these thoughts now, quickly before the next demand hits. Admittedly it’s “half baked” so as always take these thoughts to the Word, don’t just rely on my word. 

In discussing with Claudia my inability to find the summit of this current mountain of demands  we landed on a need to be clear on what we’re called to do as opposed to doing more and faster everything that is demanding our attentions. I have to say I like that word “called”. The understanding of “calling” relates to, or rather is the root of our modern word “vocation” which we commonly use to describe our jobs, but the meaning goes much deeper. A vocation, from the Latin word vocātiō, literally means “a spiritual call” or summons, such as an occupation that a person is specifically equipped for by God. Today we use the term “calling” in secular contexts, but the meaning actually originated in Christianity. So, if God has called me to a particular work, whether that’s missionary or masonry, He also equips me and makes me able to carry it out as a means to glorify Him. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:8-10). 

So, a significant part of my responsibility lies in seeking Him for what I’m called to do, and differentiating it from what I’m not called to do. Does this mean that saying “that’s not my job” can be a spiritual exercise? I believe so, with the qualifier that where you dedicate your time and energy actually uses your gifts to glorify the King and further His kingdom. Serving coffee, brokering mergers, raising children, cleaning warehouses or managing missionaries. What am I called to do and not do today, and how do I honor God in the midst of it.  Oh… so much more to consider here, “tyranny of the urgent”, guidance given us in His word, knowing when to wait and when to push, but that’s it for now. I have other aspects of my “calling” to focus on, like dinner with Claudia and the boys. 

God bless!