Focus on the Snow

Just the other day, I overheard a video my husband was watching. The guy in the video was talking about skiers and how they learn to ski through trees. He said something like “They don’t look at the trees, they look at the snow, the path.” This stuck out to me so much that I had to hunt to find the video.

As I watched what he was saying, it began to speak to me and I found myself relating it to my own life. He was saying that if skiers go through trees thinking “Don’t hit a tree! Don’t hit a tree! Don’t hit a tree!” they’ll only be watching the trees. But, if they choose to focus on the snow path, they don’t end up even seeing the trees but plenty of path instead.

One Sunday while leading worship, I found myself starting to get very distracted. In that moment the phrase “follow the snow” kept resounding in my mind. So, in order to bring myself back into the moment and what God wanted to do I started repeating to myself “Focus on God. Focus on God. Focus on God,” and it worked! I felt my attention shift back to the Father and I was able to continue leading. If you’ve ever seen the old movie, “Runaway Bride,” this may remind you of Bob, the unfortunate #4 fiancee of Maggie Carpenter. He told Mr. Ike Graham that the trick to Maggie finally making it down the aisle was to focus. When Bob explained this technique to Ike he said “Focus on Bob. Focus on Maggie.” Good in theory until a camera flash goes off and Maggie loses focus and takes off again from another wedding attempt. Spoiler alert: Only once she could get away from all distractions and truly focus on the one was Maggie able to say “I do.”

We live in the most distracted time in human history. So many things pull us in different directions. The number one reason I hear from people that neglect their Secret Place with God is that they can’t focus. I think we overcomplicate how to fix this. Instead of beating yourself up and shouting (mentally and maybe literally) “Stop Getting Distracted,” why don’t we calmly breathe in and out saying “Focus on God. Focus on God. Focus on God.” I encourage you to try it. Try it in the morning during your quiet time but also throughout the day. Center your focus on the Father at all times. 

Like Maggie in Runaway Bride, we should get away with God as Jesus did so many times. However, in every second of the day, we should still keep our eyes fixed on God. If we keep our eyes fixed on our problems, we’ll crash every time. With our eyes fixed on the One, before you know it you’ll be gliding! This will not be because the trees (the chaos of life) are gone, but because your perspective has shifted allowing you to see the God path for your life.

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go,
He’s the one who will keep you on track.” 
Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG