Focus on the Faithful One
You know those times where you have so much on your plate you don't even know what to focus on? At the beginning of this week, I took one look at my planner and all I had coming up this month, and an overwhelming amount of stress shook me immediately. Have you ever felt like this? How was I supposed to get through this to-do list of things like attending my first career fair, creating a top-notch resume, passing the most important tests of my career, starting a new job, leading a Bible study, finding a date to formal (lol), the first basketball game of the season, getting Etsy orders finished on time, catching up on blog writing, investing in friends, all while keeping a daily quiet time with God, the list seemed to go on and on. (Notice that the things on my list were GOOD things, but when that overwhelming feeling comes over me, and I have no idea what to focus on first, they start to turn into stressors instead of the blessings God intended them to be.)
I knew I had to do something to keep myself sane while going through this hectic schedule. I decided to try something new and concentrate on one WORD throughout my entire week. The past few years, I’ve chosen a word to work on all year long, memorizing scripture with this word in it, praying it over myself, embodying it in any way I can, and just asking God to show up through this word in my life. My plan for this particularly busy week was to dedicate myself to a new word to not only endure this chaotic time, but enjoy it in the fullness God intended. God doesn’t want you to just survive, He wants you to thrive. Ironic enough, I chose the word “FOCUS”. It seemed pretty impossible to set my gaze on one thing at a time, but I knew if I tried to get 100 things done at once, there was no way I would get through it, not without Him. I was going to FOCUS on what was important for each day, not looking too far ahead and wondering how I was to get everything done, but taking it one step at a time and living in an attitude of faith rather than worry.
You see, our perspective is very skewed compared to Christ’s, and our focus can quickly stray away from His if we aren’t prepared and aware. God has a heaven perspective; He has this amazing plan already mapped out for your life...He can see the big picture. Our perspective on earth sees a crazy week filled with challenges and hurdles to jump; we can’t see the finish line and we don’t understand how in the world we are supposed to get there. We see all the tiny details and struggles along the path, but not the victory at the end. Yet Christ sees the right path to take to conquer it all. We can choose to shift our focus to a more heaven-like perspective, one where we put our trust in Him and believe He will get us through... the focus that God will answer every prayer, in His flawless timing. A focus where we have full faith in the One who is always faithful. When we see a challenge, God sees the victory. God saw on Monday what I came to realize on Friday...
You see, I gave my Monday night Bible Study girls this same challenge of prayerfully choosing a word for the year, and reminded them to dive deeper in their words this week. Little did I know that I was helping God water a seed that was planted in a friend’s life a long time ago. I had been praying for this friend for quite some time to make the decision to get baptized… she had been faithfully praying for a nudge from God to tell her when the time was right. She chose the word “purpose” for the year, and the past few weeks this word has popped up in her life countless times, by His perfect design of course. Through little conversations I had with her and God, and countless prayers from many, God nudged her heart on Friday morning to take that next step, and she’s getting baptized next week...WOW! Go GOD! *happy dance*
God knew on my overwhelming Monday that this wonderful Friday was right around the corner. By focusing on just one thing at a time, prioritizing Christ each day, and choosing peace over worry, God was able to use me for His work. I not only got through the week, but I had an amazing week! In the midst of a planner so full of tasks to accomplish, I still chose to spend moments in prayer and got into my Bible every day. I put God before my to-do list and I shifted my focus towards Him, and through that, I found the victory God knew I would get to: I not only passed my test and started a new job, God was able to use me even in the smallest way to help Him nudge one of my closest friends to be baptized… now THAT is victory. I may not have finished a bunch of things on my list, but I know I got done exactly what I was meant to right now, because God never gives us more than we can handle. Instead of dreading each day and all that it held, I chose joy and tackled one thing at a time, keeping that perspective of peace. I know that if I would have set God aside for the week and attempted to get through my never-ending to-do list without Him, I would have failed. I wouldn’t have had the peace that His focus brought me. I wouldn’t have had the posture to represent Him in my actions, to spread His truth, or to water those seeds He had so faithfully planted.
I want to challenge YOU. Write the word “FOCUS” somewhere you will see it often, as a reminder to always have your eyes set on what really matters: Jesus. Through having a heaven-perspective, God will show you the joy in the midst of a hectic life. He will show you how gosh darn FAITHFUL He really is!!! Shift your focus to Him, and you will begin to see His favor all around you.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2
When we are fearless, God is faithful.
