I grew up with a condition that renders my left eye almost completely useless. It’s not noticeably lazy, but I can’t really read from it. In fact, I only see shapes and colors if my right eye is covered.
Growing up, my parents offered me an eye patch. In grade school in the 90s, that was a no-no. There weren’t many people emphasizing bullying then! Ahhhh, perhaps I would have had a different life.
Anyway, I didn’t wear the patch. I did sometimes after school, but not consistently. This led to more and more blurriness and finally, pretty much a blind eye.
So when someone says to turn a blind eye to something, I can literally turn a blind eye.
This idea of focus haunts me. I have thought of 2018 as a year of focus and definition. And I sometimes wish I would have spent time strengthening my left eye, so that it would be useful. But instead, I let the other eye do all the work. Consequently, I have about 50% of the vision I could.
I think this is a chilling indictment of how many of us spend our lives. In fact, we don’t strengthen our focus or define our lives and values, and therefore, life happens to us instead of the other way around.
We react.
We don’t process things in a healthy way.
We don’t plan.
We don’t make goals.
We live day to day hoping to survive and not thrive.
Is that you? Is that how you are? Is that how your days are spent.
If it is, I’ll tell you what I have done and what I’d recommend. List some things that you’d like to define who you are.
Here are some things that define me.
1. I want to be known and loved best by my wife and kids. I think Mark Batterson said he wants to be most famous to the people that live within the four walls of his home. What a great way to think of your life.
2. I want people to trust me and depend on me. I want to work in any job with people feeling that they could trust me running their company. This makes me feel professionally validated.
3. I want to be bold about what I want to do with my life. I love making big plans and allowing those plans to force me to be more resourceful.
4. I want my faith to be the common thread of everything. I hope that when people see me, they don’t think of as a pastor alone, but as a person who genuinely follows Christ who happens to work for a great church.
Have you ever thought of what you would like to define you? Here’s something you could ask. If you walked in on a conversation between two people that know you, what would you desire that they be saying?
Sam is trustworthy with his work.
My husband provides well and makes me feel secure.
My dad makes me feel important and loved.
Those are just some of my statements.
Think about your own. Because an undefined life is a dangerous life. If you don’t define your life, others will for you. Don’t spend your days with no vision.