She stands on the end of a diving board 10 meters, 33 feet in the air. The crowd cheers, threatening to steal her concentration. If she’ll let them. But she won’t. She can’t. Her performance, perhaps even her life, depends on it, for one wrong move, one poorly executed jump or over-rotated twist could send her crashing into the end of the board. So, she fixes her mind not on the peripheral, but the internal.

When I was young, I competed in gymnastics. We’d spend hours each week perfecting our routines and practicing our dismounts. More than that, we practiced our focus. My coach would have us lie flat on the mat and close our eyes, visualizing ourselves performing each move. This helped us develop a narrow focus, one that, when the competition came, could drown out distracting cheers, focusing on the task at hand.

And when a gymnast got distracted? Even if for but a moment?

They fell.

The same is true in our spiritual walk. Each day, there are countless distractions vying to throw us off course, but may we, moment by moment, tune them out, turning our gaze, fixing our gaze, on our victorious Savior, our shield and ever-present help. I believe one of the best ways to fix our eyes on God is to read, memorize, and meditate on God’s Word.

Isaiah 26:3-4 “You (God) will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on You (NLT).

Today join me at the Takin’ it to the Streets blog as I discuss how we can be armed for victory.