Single-Mindedness

I ran into my friend, Kelly, again this morning. She’s a young woman who lives in the neighbourhood around the church and I often meet her on my way to work.

Kelly has Down’s Syndrome. Two years ago, when I first met her out walking, she was quite a chunky young lady. Lately I’ve noticed a big difference in her and this morning I had the chance to ask her how much weight she had lost. She proudly told me that she is down to 134 pounds. That means that she has lost over 100 pounds in the last two years.

I asked her how she had done it. “Walking,” she answered. She also has an adult sized three-wheeled bike I’ve seen her on in the summer time. She was also quite happy to tell me that she wasn’t on a diet, just eating smaller portions.

I congratulated her—100 pounds is quite an achievement.

I’ve often admired her persistence. I’ve seen her out walking in the morning and in the late afternoon. It doesn’t matter if it is sunny, rainy, or snowy; Kelly is out there walking. She has been single-minded when it comes to the goal she has set for herself.

As we read the story of Joseph we see a similar pattern—a single-mindedness when it came to persistent, patient trust. He kept doing what was right even when everything in his world was wrong, because he believed God. As the second in command to Pharaoh, when at the snap of his fingers he could send a man to his death, or a family to starve, Joseph continued to be single-minded in doing the right thing. Genesis 47 describes how he provided for his family, including the brothers who had treated him so badly. He also took good care of the Egyptians as the famine lingered.

We wonder how it was that Joseph managed to keep focused despite his trials and the temptations that came with his triumphs. David’s words in Psalm 141 come to mind: “But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death. Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers, Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety” (8-10, NIV).

Where you look is where you’ll go.