I really didn’t want to be there. It was required, but it shouldn’t have been, not for me. Every one of us parents had a kid in driver education, so we had to learn how to help them learn. I didn’t see a single face that seemed any happier to be there than I was. This would be a waste of time. Some of the parents looked at each other and laughed or rolled their eyes when the instructor said something obvious. Seriously, why were we here? Then, about thirty minutes into the class, the instructor said something simple, yet profound: “You will drive toward whatever you’re looking at.” His context was why drivers shouldn’t look at oncoming headlights, but I knew it had all kinds of life applications. I had to confess my ignorance and arrogance right there. I’d always thought the only reason for avoiding looking at headlights was that they would temporarily blind you. But this newly learned principle would apply to daytime driving, as well as at night.
Focus is a powerful thing. It causes potential distractions in the peripheral to fade into powerlessness. It ultimately eliminates all its competition. If we’re easily distracted, it’s often because we lack focus. If we seem to accomplish things, but not the most important ones, we probably have the wrong focus.
The Apostle Paul demonstrated how to eliminate distractions and accomplish what’s most important.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:13-14) – NLT
Paul had spent the two previous paragraphs writing about his past. He had some pretty impressive items on his resume, but he saw them as worthless compared to what Christ had accomplished for him. He didn’t want to glory in anything he might’ve been before. He wanted glory to be all God’s, whose it rightfully is anyway. Impressive items weren’t the only ones he acknowledged in his past; he also considered himself chief among sinners, presumably because he had persecuted Christians before becoming one himself. But, regardless of what was in his past, he was placing all its contents in a single category: forgotten. He made the decision to wipe away the past – the impressive and the shameful – and to fine-tune his focus. He would focus on the prize that awaited him, the crown of righteousness.
I’ve been sensing the Holy Spirit pointing me toward that focus lately. My past has been a distraction for me, and there are things in the present that have hijacked my attention at times. But I will combine the wisdom of the Apostle Paul with the aforementioned obscure but astute drivers ed instructor and stop peering through the rear view, focusing my attention ahead to the prize that awaits me: the day when I stand before God and receive the crown that Jesus won for me.
Won’t you join me in fine-tuning your focus?