What happens when we stop focusing on our relationship with God and start watching the people around us? Where do we stand when we begin to compare and fall into the path of someone else?
For the past week I have been working with a group of gypsies, teaching them a dance to a familiar worship song. The dance, though rather simple for most of the kids, is rendering itself challenging to one little boy. With the kids lined up side-by-side we practice the dance on repeat and my eyes watch this young one as he struggles.
His eyes are constantly watching the two girls next to him. His arms move a full second after the others' and he lags behind. That is until we reach the chorus.
This was the part we taught them first. As a simple exercise we had them practice the movements the first day with their eyes closed, focusing only on learning the movements relevant to the lyrics they were hearing. So slowly, as the ladies picked on the motions and committed them to memory, their eyes would start to open and they could easily repeat the dance without a distraction.
But not for this one boy. Still every time the music hits that familiar rhythm, his eyes close. And with the closing of his eyes he begins to follow the beat, every move executed to perfection.
Photo credit to ann he.
But its once the next verse or the bridge begins that his eyes shoot open and his fluidity becomes second guessed as he watches those surrounding him. He has lost focus and has turned to the other little dancers for support.
More often than I would like to admit I find my eyes set on the people around me. I stop focusing on my walk and my relationship and start looking at those of the people standing next to me. Instead of coming out better than when I started, I end up a step or two behind.
That's a habit I like to see God breaking from me. Over the past couple weeks He has really let me in on the amount of wisdom He has generously blessed me with and how I am blessing others with it. He has shown me my strength so that I no longer have room to second guess what I know. But its now that I need to stay focused.
We tend to open our eyes and look at what others are doing when we feel like we finally have it all together. But that's when we begin to fall behind. When our focus strays from God, what we know to be true, and falls on where those around us are. If we just keep our eyes closed and our minds and hearts focused on the only part that really matters, where we are with Him, than we can finish the routine to our absolute best.
(View the original post here.)
