One

Follow One Course Until Success (Part 2 of the FOCUS series. The first part to the series can be accessed by clicking here.)

It’s about the course that you take. It has to be one.

What frustrated his mother was his tendency to change from course to course and from job to job. He never appeared settled on one thing. His mother’s concerns grew when he showed a similar approach to relationships. He would start with one girlfriend, but soon get bored and rather than ending the relationship immediately, he would find another target for his attention, seek to start something with the new one and then compare for a while before keeping one and ending the other – that’s if it reached that far.

He was clearly never satisfied with one and felt that he could have more and enjoy life that way. That was the case for so long that his mother felt he would never settle down or begin to accomplish something of worth. It made it all the more tragic that he only began to appreciate this when a car accident left him hospitalised for the best part of two months. Although he had visits from his mother, few others turned up in the initial weeks and after the first month it was only his mother.

When he asked his mother why this could be the case, she challenged him as to whether there was benefit in trying so many different things and in so many ways and never applying himself to one thing at a time. He spent the best part of the second month grumbling then moping, then pondering, then considering and then reaching the conclusion that seeing as though he had given the hit and miss approach an effort and it wasn’t effective, perhaps it was time to give the one road approach a go.

It’s about the course that you take and it cannot be any one but the one.

As that didn’t come naturally to him – as it was not an approach he was accustomed to, he was grateful for the prayerful support of his mother.

It was particular challenging when it came to his approach to women. This is particularly where his mother gave him the best piece of advice – until he could focus on a relationship with God for himself and be solely committed to that, then the relationship with women may not be as fruitful as it could be. He had heard his mother bang on about Jesus and God before, but on this giving things a chance, he thought it might be worthwhile seeing if the Audience of One approach would help him. That process didn’t come easy with all the criticisms and cynical views about church as well as the reality that the church is made up of people who have a tendency of messing up from time to time. He was giving this new approach a go, though, eventually he appreciated that the goal wasn’t to be find the perfect church or expect church to be perfect, but to be grateful to be in a community of people who acknowledge Jesus the one who opened the way to a life of true focus.

Were all his issues resolved? No. Did he run into new issues of greater intensity? Yes. Yet that approach of one course to follow at a time. And seeing the benefit of the priority course being following Jesus made a tremendous impact on his life. That focus certainly changed his approach to relationships with others as well. It was a fitting tribute of his mother’s single-minded concern and focus on the welfare of her son, that she was able to finally see him settle down in a faithful marriage which produced two beautiful children. She knew that these grandchildren of hers would be brought up in an environment where the focus on one course would be beneficial.

With such an array of options being thrown around and the sense that the freedom to choose is a great thing, it is easy to be distracted. There is great peace of mind and assurance in heart when we acknowledge the One true and living God. And in doing so, there is even greater joy in delighting in following the one way He sets. His Spirit enables us to progress as long as our aim is single, as long as we maintain FOCUS.

(Photo by Tamas Tuzes-Katai on Unsplash)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden