Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
This last Sunday, Pastor Herk’s message began how we tend to focus on the things that are going wrong around us, when we should be focusing the God things that are going on around us. Much of what we choose to think about need to be refocused because we are caught up and distracted by the chaotic busyness of the rat-race pace of this world in our sightline. Much of our focus is triggered by what we choose to think about in our day-to-day living (the latest news, the latest gossip, the latest hype, the latest gadget, gimmick or the latest fads). So, our focus is taken away from godly thoughts and actions to these distractions. We have to be careful because our thoughts have the power to drag us down to a dark spiritual valley of paralyzing and fruitless emptiness. But, they also have the ability to lift us up a godly mountaintop experience of pure joy and true happiness.
Focusing on the negatives will make it difficult to focus on the positives. We have to learn to be aware of our thought-process and not be manipulated or distracted, stopping and accessing what we are thinking about to realign our thoughts to where they need to be. If we want to have a healthy walk with Christ, then we need to have a healthy thought-process going on in our heads. Take a look back at the last week or two, and try to remember what you were focused on and the things which you tended to be drawn to. Natural and unavoidable inconveniences demand a lot of our focus, but shouldn’t pull us away from our devoted thoughts of godly things in being the dedicated disciples we are for the Lord and the kingdom, while being faithful in life and ministry as a good citizen and neighbor to others. Knowing that our thoughts are not His thoughts and our ways are not His ways, as we look back, were we praising God for the good things that were going on in our lives? My point is: we need to be aware of our thoughts.
Our focus plays a large part in our relationships; not just with family, friends and those within our sphere of influence, but even with our heavenly Father God. Genesis 1:31a tells us, “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” We may look out at the inconvenience and miss the positive beauty within it. God’s creation is good. But, we can become so incumbered thinking about the negative things going on, that we overlook the important positive things that are going on in our lives; missing the forest for the trees, not seeing, understanding and appreciating the big picture because the focus is too much on the undermining small details. So, it is important to read and stay in the holy Scriptures daily to remain focused where we ought to be.
We all have prominent people in our past who have told us to pay attention to what they were telling us because what they have to tell us or teach us very valuable information for life. The lessons learned and their application depended upon staying focus and listening carefully to understand fully and appreciate for wisdom and success usage. Focus is something that God desires from us each day, but the secular world around us wants to take our focus away, like a thief. Not just on the negative happenings, but, especially in this age of electronics and social media preoccupying our time and attention, it is far too easy to get distracted by neutral things going on around us and miss the important positive things in life. You can also be so focused on the past, that you don’t notice what God is doing in your present and what He is leading us to in our future. Our focus has the potential for influence our faith.
Let's continue Pastor Herk's message on focusing on the good in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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