when God speaks right into your life

Today St John Cassian spoke directly into my life when I read the selection from A Year with the Church Fathers.

That ever happen to you? You read the Bible, or you go to church, and you feel like you need to apologize to everyone else there? "I'm sorry, guys. Today's message was meant for ME, and you can all go home. Sorry you came all this way when God had something to tell me."

Well, that's the way I feel with today's reading. God has clearly called me to a couple things... to get married, and to write. But I get so distracted. I think to myself "I want to work in a soup kitchen. And I want to visit prisoners. And I want to start book discussion groups at nursing homes. And I want to visit people in the hospital. And...."

And there's nothing wrong with any of those things. They're good things to do! But we can spread ourselves so thin doing EVERYTHING that, as St John Cassian reminds us today, we end up doing none of it very well. We give half effort (or less) to things that really require full effort. And if I'm running off doing 1000 good things poorly, then I'm neglecting the one (or two) things that He is actually calling me to, which He has equipped me for. I am, in effect, wasting my talents.

Thank You, God, for the reminder to FOCUS. To set my sights on the things I know You've called me to do, and to do those things well.