Focus!

The antidote to my past is not my present being sorted out, it’s me understanding my future. - Graham Cooke

     When I was having babies we didn't have the option of an epidural to alleviate pain.  I myself relied on Lamaze.  The first thing you would do is find a focal point.  There were three levels of breathing to advance through as you focused on whatever object you had chosen.  As the pain increased you stepped up to the next level of breathing.  I still use this technique today when I am in pain and it works well for me.  The more you focused the more everything else in the room seemed to fade away, even the pain to tolerable level.
     When my sister was giving birth I bought her a nice little miniature rose plant as her focal point and it took a little effort to get the hang of it, but I knew it was working for her when our mother stepped between her and her focal point.  After I got everyone calmed down and explained to mom that she must not do that again, my sister got her focus back.  When Mom was having kids, as she put it, "They put me in a bed, put the rails up, and walked away."  There was no coach through delivery, no focal point and the pain was all real.  I'm not sure why anyone had more than one baby back then.  I think it would have convinced me.
     I think this is how we need to look at Jesus.  If you make Him your focal point and truly focus, it will magnify Him and all other distractions will shrink away.  It should be this way in every day life so that when you experience a tough time you know where to focus.  We tend to put the rails up and hang on for dear life.  For me, focusing on what's wrong with me is a real downer.  I get depressed every time I fail in changing myself.  I have found if I focus on God and who I am in Him, and focus on becoming more like Him, the negative is fading away. Whatever has capacity to keep your focus has power over you - Graham Cooke.  My mom stepped between my sister and her focal point unintentionally, but the enemy is very intentional when he tries to step between us and God.  By the time I had my third child, I didn't need to have a physical point to focus on.  I could close my eyes and focus.  It's like the longer and more intensely we focus it becomes a spiritual thing.  It's our spirit focused on and connecting with and through the Holy Spirit and since He is in us, the enemy can't get between unless we allow it.  As my grandson says to me when we play Mario Brothers together on the Wii, "Fooocuuus, fooocuuus."

‎"Promises are realized by people whose awareness of God is greater than their natural vision." - Graham Cooke