Seek First: Finding Peace When Your Focus Is Split

I want you to do something for me…

#1. I want you to say your ABC’s out loud as fast as you can. This is not a trick. It is not pass fail. You already know the letters of the alphabet. YOU CAN DO IT!

That was perfect. Almost like you have done it for most of your life!

#2. Now I want you to count to 26 as fast as you can, ready go!

That was incredibly fast! AND you were so accurate! You didn’t miss a beat!

#3. Now for the last exercise I want you to say your ABC’s and 123’s switching off with each one, like so;

A, 1, B, 2, C, 3 so on and so forth. Same strategy different tactic. As fast as you can, ready, GO!

Ok, ok, I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s not just me who became incredibly slow right now. It was almost like you were stuck in low gear there.

As silly as that exercise seems at first it is a very eye opening experiment if we look at it. When we said our ABC’s or when we said our 123’s we were like a race car spiting out numbers almost faster than our tongue could get them out of our mouths.

We knew what to do. We were proficient at it. Combining them did not change our knowledge of the letters or numbers in the slightest. We didn’t suddenly forget 4 comes after 3 or M after L. And still every single one of us was dramatically slower when we were running through step 3.

When our focus is split we will never be as effective and purposeful as we are meant to be. I’ve used this illustration in so many classes for both ministry and my workplace and it always is a preaching to the choir moment in my life. You see I use to be the self-labeled “queen of multi-tasking”. I would brag about being able to do all the things all the time. And then I would go home exhausted and frazzled, feeling like I didn’t accomplish all of the things that I had hoped to. My focus was split and directed in may different directions and I was so proud of it.

Don’t get me wrong, lots of things got done. The ship kept moving (not always the right direction, but moving none the less. But that’s a story for another time…) Even though tasks would be completed and goals accomplished, at the end of the day I had a hard time finding my peace. I would end the day feeling like I should have been more productive or I could have done this or that differently.

We, as woman, have so many things going on in our lives, that are often good things. But many times our focus is split whether intentionally or not.

If any of you were at the P&W conference this past fall you heard our main verse Psalms 34:5. If you weren’t there this year be sure to save the date for the 2027 Fall Conference, I’m already excited!

Anyways, we spoke a lot about looking to Him – God. Where is our focus? Where is our gaze?

I love this verse in Matthew 6:33, because it is here that Jesus gives such a loving statement to us.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

It goes on to say in verse 34...

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself…"

Seek first… Jesus is telling us, yeah there’s plenty of “stuff” in our lives that need our attention. There’s plenty of “things” that require our focus. BUT, seek first…

I don’t know about you, but I LLOOOVEEE me a checklist. There’s is nothing quite like the feeling of crossing off something from the to-dos. It brings my heart so much joy and peace with everything that I accomplish. Maybe that’s why I love this verse so much.

Jesus is giving us a priority order. He created our very own checklist for us and spoiler alert… There is only ONE item! Seek first his kingdom and then everything else.

What would our lives look like if instead of splitting our focus between Jesus and, to just Jesus?  How would our family lives change? Our church life? Would we be less busy or just more at peace? Just like our exercise with our numbers and ABC’s what would happen if instead of trying to do all of the things at the same time we worked on being efficient with one thing at a time. And the thing we start with is seeking Jesus.

I said it at the Radiant conference and I’m going to say it again…

The invitation isn’t for us to do less, the invitation is to set our gaze on Jesus and spend time with Him.

And then all these things will be added to you…

Sis, take this time and ask yourself, if you are walking around with your gaze split? If so then where is your gaze split? And ask Holy Spirit to help you seek first.

Love you,