day 218: Intensity

Intensity as defined by Dictionary.com: great energy, strength, concentration, vehemence, etc., as of activity, thought, or feeling: He went at the job with great intensity. We are rewarded in our work for the level of intensity that we bring to our jobs. Those who can singularly focus and get a job done with the level of quality and ahead of time expectations, are usually the people who continue to move forward and upward in an organization. It is hard to bring an intensity and focus to all that we do. We are distracted by the other things in life and also by the subplots of our workplace and co-workers. If we are too focused on just the work and not the people around us we can be tagged as being too self-focused and not a team player. On the other hand if we can't find an intensity and focus against a project or assignment we are not looked at as someone who can bring the ball across the goal line. It is a fine line we walk and whether or not we know it, walk that tightrope day in and day out. In my career I have erred on the side of intensity and focus to the work. I always felt there was a job to be done and "let's go get it done". I do remember one day when I was receiving feedback from a person who worked for me, who I respected greatly, who said, "you know what I would like from you? I would like a 'good morning' each day before you dive into what we need to do today". It was a sobering lesson and one that I have kept with me. Intensity without a counterbalance for people can be hurtful to others. Interesting enough, I have learned that the best counterbalance is also about another focus. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul talks to us about putting the mirror of Jesus in front of us so that we can "brightly reflect the glory of the Lord". He goes on to say, "And as the spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more". Pastor and writer David Wilkerson says that in order to see the reflection in that mirror we must focus and gaze into it intensely. He says we are not to think of this verse just as any other mirror: "They think of a mirror, with Jesus’ face being reflected back to them. But that isn’t Paul’s meaning here. He’s speaking of an intensely focused gaze, as if peering at something earnestly through a glass, trying to see it more clearly. We’re to “fix our eyes” this way, determined to see God’s glory in the face of Christ. We’re to shut ourselves in the Holy of Holies, with but one obsession: to gaze so intently, and to commune with such devotion, that we’re changed." When I read this, I think of the focused gaze it takes to see through a two-way mirror like we use with marketing focus groups. To see into the other side you have to fix your gaze to see beyond the glass and see the depth that is on the other side. It is hard to do and takes extreme focus. So, the balance to our intensity in our work can be the focus on the mirror of Jesus so that we can reflect back to others the glory of Him. God has remarkable ways of taking our strengths and when we turn them over to Him, making them powerful for His work. As we bring our intensity to our work today, let us balance it with the focus and intensity we have towards Him and allow the two to work together to make us the greatest reflection of the good works of Jesus that we can be.

Reference: 2 Corinthians 3:18 (New Living Testament)