Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.
Philippians 4:8 (HCSB)
What takes your focus away from the Father?I'll be honest, I really believed that my whole focus was on God- I mean, I adore Him and love Him with my whole being and I truly only want to go where He takes me. I only want to hear His voice and I only want to do His will for me.
However...
There are still things that pull my focus away from Him and back onto myself. They're subtle and we all do it at some point or another.
Here's some things that I personally allow to deter my focus:
- The way I look at my own body. Ugh, this is a tough one and I believe that many women struggle with this. There are days that I flat out hate my body and the way I look. I end up pouring all my attention into self-loathing rather than focusing on His purpose for my body.
- My own thoughts- like anyone else, my thoughts race, constantly. I always dream because my brain never just shuts down. I have more thoughts in a day than I feel like I can control. The truth is, I can control them, and I don't have to let them walk all over me. I need to practice 'capturing' my thoughts more often.
- Money. This is another tough one- when an unexpected bill shows up, or even when I have a little extra money coming my way, I still tend to obsess and worry about it.
- Maybe you have a sick child (I have several friends that are dealing with this right now) that you're more focused on than the Father.
- Maybe you and your spouse aren't getting along lately
- Maybe you're in a rut
- Maybe you're lonely
- Maybe you're stressed out at work
- Maybe your kids are demanding your attention
- Maybe you're working so hard to control every little detail of your life and everyone in it just to keep it from 'spinning out of control'
- Maybe you're wondering how much more you can handle
He knows all the balls you have in the air, kids, work, finances, and He's already got it worked out, He's just waiting for you to just trust Him.
In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
and the Lord answered me and set me free.
and the Lord answered me and set me free.
A pretty common lie from the enemy is that God won't put more on us than we can handle. Folks, that's a HUGE lie- no where in the Word does God tell us to carry all the burden we can and then cast the 'rest' of our cares on Him. No, it says to cast ALL your cares on Him and HE will give us rest. (1 Peter 5:7)
God doesn't want to test you and see how much you can deal with; He doesn't continue to give you more junk to handle- that's not His goal.
In fact, He wants you to stop trying to handle it all and trust Him to take care of it. He wants to release you from the responsibility of trying to take care of everything and the hurtful feeling of failure when you just can't.
See, when we put our trust in Him and focus our thoughts towards Him, He takes care of everything, even when we don't see anything happening.
We're completely off the hook.
So, the next time you're bombarded with things that are demanding your attention and pulling your focus away from God, stop, and take that moment to just say, "I trust you, Father."
It helps keep your focus where it should be. You're re-directing your thoughts from what you can't control to someone who can.
The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) - if he can steal your joy and your kill your ability to trust God, he will destroy you. Jesus came so that we'd have life more abundantly.
Put your attention and trust where it belongs- on the only One who can handle and change your life.
Sit back, trust Him and just watch and see what He does. He only wants good things for you- no matter what your circumstances may look like.
For the Lord delights in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
Be blessed!!!he crowns the humble with victory.
~Pamela
www.ACreativeWord.com
Pamela@acreativeword.com
