Pay Attention!

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

—Is. 26:3

Pay attention!  Do you remember your teachers saying this?  When we are younger, early in our school years, we need these kind of prompts.  Otherwise, our attention is all over the place.  Attention is a skill that is developed and it is developed sequentially.  First, a child learns to put their attention on something, often as a response to directions from their teachers or parents or others.  As our brains mature, we learn to put our attention on something and to keep it there.  We learn to sustain our attention long enough to learn whatever we are being taught or able to experience.  That is how we learn what others are trying to teach us.  Finally, we need to be able to put our attention on something, sustain our attention, and to do so without being distracted.

Ruth Haley Barton in Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership12 states, "Learning to pay attention and knowing what to pay attention to is a key discipline for leaders but one that rarely comes naturally to those of us who are barreling through life with our eyes fixed on a goal."  I think that may be said for all of us and not just leaders.

She goes on to say, "Many of us are choosing to live lives that do not set us up to pay attention, to notice those places where God is at work and to ask ourselves what these things mean."  In Ex. 3:1-3, we read, "Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian...The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  So Moses thought, 'I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up.'"

Have you noticed that God has a sense for the theatrical?  He could have spoken to Moses as He speaks to many of us, through a song sung by a choir during worship, or from a passage of Scripture read during a quiet time, or in the middle of a conversation, perhaps with Jethro.  But, God wanted Moses' attention.  And, He got it.

For the rest of us, it isn't that easy.  I doubt God is going to light up any bushes because I don't have any in my yard.  Besides, if He did, the fire department would be right out and I would be cited for an uncontained fire.  When God wanted Moses' attention, He didn't want an audience.  He didn't want any distraction.  He wanted Moses to focus.  He wanted Moses to know that it was God talking to him.  He wanted Moses' full attention and He knew what it would take.

When God speaks to us, He wants our attention.  In turn, I want to be aware of what God is doing, where He is at work, and I want to know what my part is in that activity.  To do so, I have to put my attention on Him, keep it on Him, and not allow or give in to any distractions.

When we read the Scriptures, we are to put our focus upon what the Word has to say and to maintain our focus.  The same with prayer, when we pray, we need to keep our focus on the One we are relating to and have an awareness of His presence.  Throughout the day, we need to pray without ceasing, communicating with God as if we truly understand what it means when He says, “I am with you always.”

In John 8:31, we read, “If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples.  Then, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

To abide means to sustain or remain, to stay fixed upon something, or to wait patiently.  

Many of us have difficulty paying attention to what God may be saying or doing throughout our day.  Even if we start the day with devotions, reading the Bible and praying, we forget what we read the minute we walk away.  We fail to keep our attention upon what we read or understood from that time with the Lord.  Especially as we read Scripture, we need to keep our focus on the Word until the Holy Spirit has the chance to enlighten us as to its meaning, to make it clear to us what it has to say.  As you attempt to focus on the Scripture, you will find all sorts of other things come to mind.  Don’t give any of these distractions your attention.  Allow them to come and go without giving them a second thought.

David writes in Ps. 1: “Blessed is the man who meditates on the Lord’s Word day and night.”

Read the following Scripture but as you do, focus on only one line at a time, allowing the full meaning of that part of the verse to have an impact on you, before you move on.

“Be still and know that I am God.”

“Be still and know that I am.”

“Be still and know.”

“Be still.”

“Be.”