Attention.

Attention, everyone. I have recently been realizing that attention is the issue here.

There are people who don't get enough attention & crave it. There are those who won't give it, whether to protect themselves from getting it back & their flaws being realized or simply to pay back not getting it themselves. And there is a God who so desperately wants yours, & tries to tell you 1000 times a day.

Girls are born with a need for attention & acknowledgement. We need to know, & HEAR, that we are loved & valued. Little girls need this assurance, & older girls need this reminder. But in many heartbreaking cases, we fail to receive this. Our fathers are human & sometimes forget, or don't realize how imporatnt it is. In other cases, fathers just aren't around. I am so immensely blessed in my life to have a wonderful daddy who has always given me ample attention & has always affirmed me, but this isn't the case with everyone. And it is a great, great need. So then, girls start looking for ways to fill this void. They use their bodies, their words, their actions to try & fill the need to know they're valued, to have someone's attention. We've all seen it. A girl who is obnoxiously loud, all over all the boys, practically BEGGING for attention. What they fail to realize is that they've been on HIS mind since the beginning of EVERYTHING, & they hold His attention, even if they don't get a second glance here on earth. Because a "gentle & quiet spirit" is of "great worth in God's sight". We don't have to fight for it anymore.

Boys also share this need, but in a different way. Men need to be respected; valued; to feel like they're important. Some get attention & build such a huge ego that their desire for attention is insatiable. Others can't seem to get any & spend all their time & efforts trying to impress girls, their fathers, or their friends. They try endlessly to prove that they're man enough to deserve the attention, & in many times they end up commanding it with actions that don't deserve the attention they're aiming to receive. They try to force it from others with their strength when their quiet leadership & strength warrants much more respect & attention.

God watches all of this. He made us to need each other, & need relationships. The problem is, we have turned this into a need of approval from each other, rather than having each other as a source of encouragement & fellowship. Instead of spending so much energy & time working to get a few minutes of attention from one person, wouldn't it make more sense to go to the source of our purpose in life? Our Creator? The one who sends us sunsets, & stars, & oceans, & flowers, & butterflies, & sunshine, & a million others good things in life simply to show us that He loves us? The One who fights for our hearts with His unfailing love. The One who is waiting whenever we surrender our hopelessness & accept His blessings, His faithfulness, His LOVE! He waits with open arms, & UNDIVIDED ATTENTION, dear ones. He knows everything about us, & more than that, He cares. He created us & knows our need. He is ready, willing, & able to be the source of everything we need, if we make a simple, although life-altering decision. To turn our eyes on Him. To give Him our attention, & stop begging it from others to feel like we are worth something. Because He already thinks that we are worth everything. He thought we were worth sending Jesus for, to make a way for us to come back to Him, even while we were sinners. And He loves us more than we could ever imagine.

There are those today who know these truths. But they look for excuses, distractions, things to keep them from having to face change. Change is scary. But living a life without Jesus is much, much scarier. Is it worth having the attention of men here on earth & missing out on what God has for us? The truth is, we aren't created to get attention for ourselves anyway. We're simply here to be used to point it ALL back to Him, He who is the only way we can be fulfilled, & always valued, & always, always, always loved. What is it going to take to get your attention that God wants your attention? The love letters for us, found in His word, are in most homes in America... The evidence is all around us...

He loves us. Our failings don't stop Him. He loves us. Our insecurities are forgotten in the midst of the absolute source of strength & love. He loves us. He is there when everyone else leaves. He loves us. His attention & His hand never leaves us even when the rest of the world turns their eye to focus on the next thing. He loves us. More than we could ever fathom. And He's simply waiting to show us if we give Him our attention. He cares about the mundane details, & more than that, He orchestrates them all to point us to Him. He is jealous for our attention. What is it going to take to give our attention where it is truly deserved?

When Peter walked on the water towards Jesus, he was fine when he kept his eyes, his attention, focused on Him. However, when he took his eyes off of Jesus, he began to sink. It's time to realize that without our full attention on Jesus & what He has for us, rather than our distractions & humans instincts, we are going to sink. We need Him. And friends, He wants us, against all odds.


Does He have your attention yet??


"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory & grace."