One Thing!

The past two weeks rank right up there with the most difficult times I have experienced as a person. I have seen my marriage falter, my spirit wrenched, my sin nature rise up from the ashes, friends turn against me, vision disintegrate, faith fall apart at the seams,and certain hopes appear to fly right out of the window. Much of it comes from outside of my own doing and influence, but I must admit that I have "lost it" when it comes to personal focus and attention to what truly sustains the soul and spirit.

I have never been one that is best at juggling multiple responsibilities and doing it well. I tend toward doing one thing at a time and striving to do that to the best of my ability. I wrote the book on spreading myself too thin and with the proper heart and motives allowing myself to get to a place where I am of no good to anyone at all because I want to do too much. I have been through this sooooooooo many times. It seems that I would have learned this lesson by now, but I continue to repeat this pattern in my life.

Several years ago I had a pastor who invested in me continuously and made a tremendous difference in my life. The one thing I will always remember about him the most was his emphasis on Psalm 27 as he worked with me and his emphasis on that one thing being the One Thing!

Psalm 27:4 states "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple" (esv). It is a singleness of purpose that paves the way for all other purposes in my life. If I cannot honestly say to the Lord "You are the One thing that I seek. You and You alone are the anchor of my soul and the purpose of my life. All I truly desire is You and You alone", then I am incapable of fulfilling any other purposes in my life, no matter how noble those purposes may be.

I am so thankful that the Lord allows me to see this after a couple of weeks and not months or years. I am still one of the most hardheaded participants in the human race, but maybe, just maybe, I learn some lessons a little quicker than I used to. I am so thankful that the entire house of cards does not have to come down on me before I realize that I am trying to do too much and that my primary focus in life is not doing, but being, and that pursuing the things of God is NOT the same as pursuing God Himself.

He is the One Thing that matters! He, in His person, is what the Psalmist seeks in this verse. Today, as I work, I pray that the ONLY thing I truly seek is to "gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple." No matter how I feel, what I think, or what my opinions about certain things may or may not be. No matter how much joy or pain or strength or weakness or happiness or depression I may feel, my ultimate responsibility is but One Thing and that is the pursuit of God Himself!