I Choose Today to Focus on Life

As I was praying over a friend’s medical prognosis, I was reminded of a simple visual saying:

A hummingbird and a vulture fly over the same desert. One searches for life, the other for death. Both find exactly what they’re looking for.

I’ve mentioned this analogy before in relation to the words we speak, how our words can either bring life or death depending on what we choose to say.

But this time, the Lord brought it to mind in a different way, not about our words, but about our thoughts.

You see, when we look at the world around us, wars, division, brokenness, and even personal crises like medical diagnoses, it’s easy to focus on the negative. It’s easy to see the chaos and begin to expect more chaos. It’s a natural road to travel, and before long, we find ourselves scanning everything for what might go wrong.

Like the vulture, we begin searching for death.

But what if we chose to look for life instead?

Because if we look for life, we will find it.

I’m reminded of Jesus’ words to His disciples as He prepared them for the difficult road ahead:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Jesus didn’t promise an easy, problem-free life.

He acknowledged the trials.

He acknowledged the sorrow.

But He also gave them, and us, something to focus on.

He has overcome the world.

And when we focus on that truth, peace follows.

I know personally how easy it is to focus on the problem and only see the problem. The more I think about it, and all the things that could go wrong, the bigger it becomes in my mind.

It’s true what they say: what you feed grows.

When we feed fear, fear grows.

When we feed worry, worry grows.

When we feed hope, hope grows.

This is why I find myself gravitating toward Philippians 4:8:

“…you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true… the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” (MSG)

And this isn’t always easy.

Some days, the weight of what we’re facing feels overwhelming. Some days, fear feels louder than hope.

I know this because I’ve been there too.

But even in those moments, we can take one small step, shifting our focus from what we fear to Who is with us in it.

Going back to the hummingbird and the vulture, we have a choice today:

Will we look for life?

Or will we look for death?

Because whichever one we choose, we will find it.

And today…

I choose to focus on life.