You’re out shopping in a mall when your child throws a temper tantrum because you said: “No. I’m not buying that toy for you.” Passers-by are giving you the evil eye or the knowing nod or the sympathetic smile. Clearly you and your sour child are in the limelight.

You cannot ignore the crisis. You want to end this embarrassment with one swift smack, but, of course, someone could interpret it as an act of child abuse.

So you choose to avoid the immediate threat of intervention by Children’s Aid with one angry swipe of your debit card. But it comes at the additional cost of ignoring the important issue of teaching your child delayed gratification, acceptable behaviour, submission to parents, or other value.

It is not easy to keep your focus on the important in the midst of the immediate, is it? Yet, it is an ongoing battle that each of us will face time and again. How will we handle it?

Let’s see what Jesus did when He was faced with a similar choice.

In the first chapter of the gospel of Mark 1, we have a detailed account of the early days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He is preaching (v. 14), calling disciples to follow him (v. 17), casting out an unclean spirit (v. 25), healing and casting out demons again (v. 34).

The consequence of this flurry of ministry activity? “And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee” (v. 28).

Needless to say this led to many more people coming to see Him and desiring to receive healing, freedom and other blessings through Him.  But Jesus was nowhere in sight.

The disciples eventually track him down in a solitary place where he had gone to pray and they say: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Listen to Jesus’ reply: “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” (Mark 1:35-39)

Jesus had to choose between the immediate and the important. Giving in to the demands of the crowds and the disciples would have been an easy decision. It would have pleased everyone…and a lot of good would have come out of it…in the short-term.

But Jesus was well aware that He could not neglect the important at the expense of the immediate. So he chooses to leave the “revival hotspot” of Capernaum and carry out his mission among the unreached residents of nearby villages. “That is why I have come.”

Dear DWOD friend, on the road to your destiny, you too will find yourself at times facing urgent matters that scream for your immediate attention. They will demand your time, your energy and your resources and can actually deplete them in a hurry.

But the greatest danger you face at times such as these is that you will lose your focus and st(r)ay away from doing the important things (that do not place immediate demands on you).

So, how do you avoid this pitfall? Pretty simple, really. Be sure about what God wants you to do, as Jesus was. It could lead you to developing a personal mission statement as it did Sulojana and me several years ago. Everything we do must be in harmony with it…or we simply do not do it.

Here is ours: “To live as Jesus did—in intimacy with the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit—and equip others to do the same.”

We have to admit that we do get sidetracked by the immediate at times still, but when we need to make choices, especially about how and where to invest our time, this statement ensures that we focus on the important.

Now, we would like to invite you, our readers, to share with the rest of your DWOD family how you ensure that the immediate does not trump the important in your life. We thank you in advance for your response.