FOCUS

Colonel G.W. Goethals, responsible for completion of the Panama Canal, had major problems with the climate and the geography as it was being built. But, he had an even bigger problem. It was the growing criticism back home from those who predicted he'd never finish the project and had opinions about how to do it better.

One day, a colleague asked him, "Aren't you going to answer all these critics?" "In time," answered Goethals.  "When?" his partner asked.  "When the canal is finished.”

In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant explored possibility of Panama Canal.  In 1914, 45 years later, it officially opened.

Some of the hardships/distractions:

·        Yellow fever epidemic-400 workers died after only 126 the year before.

·        In 1904, US doctor discovered 70% of local Panama population has Malaria

·        Mosquitoes found to be carrying Malaria and yellow fever

·        In 1906, President Roosevelt visited Panama-1^st sitting President to leave U.S.

·        Numerous U.S. troops were sent to the Panama area along with Naval ships to protect workers and keep peace in the area

·        In the end, 27,000 people died building the canal

The climate and geography may not be ideal and people around us might be critical, but we must remain focused! We will come across some obstacles along the way but we cannot let them distract us from our calling!

Psalm 25: 15--My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Focus does not keep us out of trouble or experiencing difficult times.  Focus does help us stay or see the right path so we do not drown in trouble or the difficult times.

In dog obedience training, they put a dog at one end of a room and its master at the other end of the room, with a plate of food in the middle. And then the master calls the dog. If the dog eyes the food, he’s a goner; he’ll go straight for it. So they teach the dog to focus his eyes on the master. If the dog keeps his eyes on the master, he won’t be tempted. Instead of heading for the food, he’ll head straight to the master.

Keep our eyes on our master or we’ll get distracted. Get our minds off our circumstances and our problems and focus on God’s goodness to us in our past, his closeness to us in our present and his power to help us in our future.

The successful man is the average man, focused.