Genesis 1:1, Rev 22:21, Acts 17:28

Glyn Barrett

In his book "In the Eye of the Storm", Max Lucado tells a story of two paddleboats: They left Memphis at about the same time, travelling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they travelled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the "snail's pace" of the other. Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South. One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fuelled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but burned their cargo.

In some ways, your life is like that of the paddleboat. God has entrusted "cargo" to you, too. The cargo includes your spouse, your children, friends, calling & purpose. Your job is to do your part in seeing that this cargo reaches its destination (find their fulfilment). Often, in the course of the race (life) we can fall into the trap of sacrificing the "God-given cargo" in an attempt to achieve the "number one slot" or a certain status amongst peers & society. As captain of the ship, God requires you to ensure that the cargo reaches its destination safely.

Luciano Pavarotti recalls something from his formative years. "When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song. He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, 'Shall I be a teacher or a singer?' "'Luciano,' my father replied, 'if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.' "I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book-whatever we choose-we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair."

Pavarotti's sentiment is nice, but life encompasses many different areas. To focus merely on one aspect of your life, is to completely neglect every other area. The Paddleboat Captain won the race but neglected his purpose for having the boat in the first place. God has placed in each of us the creative, entrepreneurial, "impossible" ability to focus on a plurality of areas in life whilst maintaining a single focus also.

The single focus for your life has to come down to one thing....God! In Genesis 1:1, it says; "In the beginning God...!" In Rev 22:21, the last verse of the Bible, it says; "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ...!" Life begins with God & finishes with God. In fact in Acts 17:28 it says, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being..." The simple truth is that - "God is the Alpha & Omega - we are just somewhere in the middle!" The single focus for your life has to be God.

But God never asks us to live as hermits, alone - so we can contemplate the deeper meanings of His intergalactic names. He puts us on the planet, with passion, purpose & people & in that, we need to be people who stay focussed to a plurality (multi-task) of causes. How do you stay focussed on many things, wear different hats (ie fulfil different roles) & still enjoy life? The answer is found in a child's toy!

When I was a child, I had a spinning top. Not an amazing toy really, only that when you spun it, it just continued to rotate until it lost its momentum & stopped. As a child I never thought about the science of the "spinning top" & even now the science doesn't really get me going. But the effect of the top spinning, causes there to be an amazing transformation on its fascia. The colours of the top featured are - Red, Black & green. Three distinguishable colours apart from when the top is spinning. When the top spins, the colours merge into one.

Sometimes in our desire to focus on the destination (ie Paddleboats), we lose sight of the actual task that God has given us. We are not just called to make an impact in the world & nation, but also have an impact on the people we do life with, ie spouse, children, friends etc. To be focussed on just one task in the long term is to have a spinning top that is standing still. We can see each individual colour & it looks great - but the spinning top is designed to SPIN! You are designed to focus on a plurality of causes. To focus on just one aspect of life is to neglect another & is akin to burning your cargo in order to win a race.

Some prioritise their life in terms of God first, family next & finally ministry or the job third. God never intended for us to have a clear-cut priority list. To be so clear cut is to have a "non - spinning" spinning top. To be so focussed on prayer that you neglect your kids is not God pleasing NOR is to be so focussed on your family that you forget church involvement.

As the top spins, the colours merge! Life is about the merging & blending of colours. You begin to realise that there are "Seasons" when you should concentrate on prayer, but likewise seasons to concentrate on your family, & seasons to concentrate on prayer & seasons to concentrate on family & seasons to concentrate on prayer. The moment one is done to the neglect of another is the time when the spinning top is beginning to slow down & you need to re-arrange your focus again for another season.

The challenge is simple - "Don't be so focussed on one thing that you forget to focus on life & ALL that entails!"

In a Berlin art gallery there is a painting by German painter Adolf Menzel (1815-1905). It is unique in that it is only partially finished. He had intended to show Fredrick the Great speaking with some of his generals. Menzel painted the generals and the background, but left the king out until last. He put the outline of Fredrick in charcoal, but died prior to finishing. There are many things to focus on in life but one thing is sure, many Christians come to the end of life without ever having put Christ into his proper place! Whatever you do - put Jesus centre stage & let life flow from that!