Matters Most

“Don’t get lost in what matters little, spend your life in what matters most.”

Loren Thornburg

We are easily swayed and led off track.  I see it all the time.   It’s in our families, work, teams, politics, communities, churches, and hearts.  The little things keep us from seeing the big picture and what matters most.  We all have them.  We want to have things happen our way more than to reach the original goal, to be heard more than to do what’s best for the group, to be successful more than to grow, to have the quick fix more than to have it really fixed.  The list goes on and on.   There are thousands of “littles” begging for our attention, but what really matters most?  Step back from the chaos and look again.  See what is most important.  In the midst of all around you don’t miss what matters most.  

“But that matters little.  What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.”

Acts 20:24 Message

Paul is in the midst of his journey to Jerusalem knowing that there will be hardships.  His response to that reality is to say “that matters little” in comparison with “what matters most to me,” which is to share Jesus.  It would have been easy for Paul to get lost in the fear of the unknown.  However, instead of seeing the weight of potential hardship he saw the weight of what he has been called to do.  When that is kept at the front of his focus whatever is to come no longer matters.  What matters most should matter most.  I wish I could say that were always true for me, but it’s not.  Often how I look, what people will think, my comfort, my fears, or my security becomes what matters most to me.  That’s why I need the Holy Spirit, I need time with the Father, I need time in the word, I need time with other believers.  Without these things I will get lost in all the littles and miss what matters most.  It’s Him.  It’s always Jesus and all that He is asking of me.  That always matters most.  Let’s help each other to walk that out.  Oh what it might look like if our hearts and lives said it as Paul did, “But that matters little.  What matters most to me is to finish what God started…”