I pick up my phone and am immediately bombarded with a myriad of messages. You know what I mean. We all experience it constantly. Text messages, notifications, phone calls, commercial ads online or on TV. Emails from people we know and people we don’t. Our family wants our attention. Our friends want our attention. Our business associates and customers want our attention. Advertisers want our attention. How do we rightly evaluate and respond to the mass of messages we receive daily? In the end it comes down to one question: What really matters? How do we focus our attention on the messages that matter most?

Step back, look at the clump of communication coming at you and ask yourself: What really matters? What is it that really makes a difference? When you are clear on that, everything else becomes clear. Why?

When I understand what matters, I don’t get caught up in what doesn’t. Understanding what matters most brings clarity to the cacophony of voices vying for my attention. When I know what matters most it’s a lot easier to pick out the voices that I need to respond to and turn a deaf ear to the ones that are only noise.

When I understand what matters, I am free to concentrate on the messages that move me toward purpose. Clarity leads to purposeful action. Weeding out what doesn’t matter allows me to do what does. I can give my attention to the tasks that move me forward in what I know God wants me to do and not get bogged down in distractions.

When I understand what really matters, I can persevere through trial because I am focused on the end result. I’ll never forget coming to the church nursery door and watching my baby crawl over other children to get to me. That little bundle had only one objective, only one thing mattered. Get to Mama! Focus on the thing that mattered most caused everything else to fade away until that one thing was accomplished. That’s how it works with you and me, too. When we focus on what matters, we can let go of what doesn’t and keep moving forward no matter what obstacles are in front of us.

Do you know what really matters? To you? To God? Next week we will focus in on how to know what matters most, but for now, start asking yourself that question when your phone blows up with notifications. What really matters? Keeping that in mind will help you know what really needs your attention and what you can just delete.

I hope when you receive an email from me that it brings you value. Thanks for not deleting me!

Key thought: Give your attention to what matters most.

A Scripture to consider: “For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES challenge: When you open your email start asking yourself “What really matters?” as you scroll through the subject lines. Allow yourself to delete a message without reading it if you recognize it to be an ad or something that doesn’t really matter. This one is tough for me!

Prayer: Father, there are so many voices calling for my attention. Help me to understand what really matters so that I can respond in a way that honors You. Help me to recognize what will help me live the pure and blameless life that You designed me for and help me to persevere through trial until the day when Christ returns. Amen.

September 12, 2026

This is Not Forever

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT

As I tearfully opened the sodden boxes of our stored belongings, wondering what was ruined, a verse came to mind,

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 NLT

We were temporarily living with my parents, and our stuff was stored in Tom’s parents' garage. They had a plumbing issue in their bathroom above the garage, causing a leak that soaked several of our boxes and other items, including our mattress. We weren’t sure what was salvageable.

That period of time was already difficult. We were waiting for a job to open up and unsure how long that would take, how long we would be living with my parents, how long our stuff would be stored. Both sets of parents had been patient, loving, and gracious. There was no one to blame for the water damage. Sometimes things just happen.

But when that verse popped into my brain, it completely changed my perspective on going through the damage. The tears didn’t stop. There was some mourning and disappointment. But at the same time, there was hope. This was temporary. These things were just things. What really mattered was how I responded. I could choose an eternal perspective. I could choose to treasure Christ more than an earthly possession.

As it turned out, very few of our things were unsalvageable, and insurance more than covered anything that was lost. But the eternal perspective I gained is a treasure that I still carry. That simple shift helped me through the three and a half years of living in the in-between.