What do you see? Right now. What do you see? Stop looking at the computer screen and glance around you. What do you see?
I see...
- a photo of an old weathered Honduran man strapping some blankets to his equally old burro, preparing to go gather wood in the hills;
- a poster asking, "Does the Bible Provide an Adequate Answer for the Problem of Suffering?";
- a bunch of piles nearly out-of-control;
- Bibles in various languages, devotionals, books on fundraising, writing proposals, "Facing Your Giants", "Guide for Charity Board Members";
- blown up and framed photographs of energetic kids in China, blank-eyed babies in Ukraine, kids playing on a playground in Quinhagak, Alaska, my nephews, a friend & me in Beijing;
- a newspaper headline, "Status quo..." peering out from under a book;
- a partially written thank you note;
- a trash can greatly in need of emptying;
- materials promoting the great works of Back in His Arms Again, chinaconnect; Doma International, Eyes Wide Open International, Orphan World Relief, the CLiF Network;
- a dying plant;
- the bill from the unexpected and unbudgeted engine work on my car;
- a strategic plan for a new ministry;
- bags of Honduran coffee;
- a yard stick.
Every now and then I get into what my mom refers to as a "funk". When in one of my funks, I get out-of-sorts with pretty much everyone and everything, and I lack all passion and motivation. These seem to occur at times which I have taken my eyes off those things which are important - those things which represent my faith, passion, and purpose - and have shifted to the "stuff" which surrounds me.
I don't think that I'm all that unusual. How often do our eyes get distracted from what is really important and on to the "stuff" which only seems important? How often to we allow ourselves to get frustrated by those things which are really not a big deal, but seem to have the ability to skew our attitudes and outlooks? Probably more often than we'd like to admit.
The next time you feel yourself sliding into a funk, I'd like to encourage you to take another look around. While there may be lots of stuff in the way, work hard to look through it and really see and focus on those things which are really important, which give you your faith, passion and purpose.
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