I am married to a woodsy warrior. Next week, it will be for 32 years. Rob has laser focus when it comes to hunting. Whether it be a deer or a turkey, he knows their patterns in each season as well as what will draw them in. He has become proficient in understanding them and their ways. He is in tune with nature.
Our walks of faith should be this same way. We should have laser focus when it comes to who God is and what He wants from us. We are to be in tune to our Creator. We gain this kind of focus when we set our minds on the things of God, and not on how the world does things. Francis Chan, an author and preacher, says this, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”
This world offers many wonderful opportunities to experience life to the fullest, like Rob in the fall during hunting season or in the spring as He is calling in turkeys. All these opportunities are from God. What trips us up is when we focus on these opportunities and experiences more than experiencing God Himself. We allow ourselves to feast upon things that God says are really not that important.
God’s Word guides us to why this is. Jesus says in Luke 12:15, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” 1 John 2:15-16 tell us this: “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world you do not have the love of the Father in you. For this world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.”
We are to be laser focused in God presence.
When we are not laser focused in God’s presence, we miss out on what God has for us. We settle for good things and allow our eyes to wander towards what we desire instead of what God desires for us. 1 Timothy 6:9-10 speaks of this, “People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and some people craving money have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” God wants us to desire Him over anything else on earth.
When we focus on God, we think clearly as well as have the ability to exercise self-control; see 1 Peter 1:13. God’s Word is what we need in abiding in Christ and keeping our focus on God. Jesus talks about this in John 15:1-17. It is vital in our day-to-day walk that we know God’s Word. It is imperative that we study it like my woodsy warrior has done in learning about deer and turkeys.
It is good to remember that while God’s plan may appear daunting, unfair, scary perhaps, we are wise to seek His counsel and allow Him to lead us home for this world is not it. We are merely passing through where God gives us the choice to follow down the narrow path that ends in eternal life with God or the wide road that leads to separation from Him forever; see Matthew 7:13-14. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:25, “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”
As we steady ourselves on the Rock, which is Christ Himself, our faith in God solidifies into a persevering way of life. We live satisfied amidst temptations, content amidst unanswered prayers, hopeful in the face of fear, and changed because of His love.
We are made to live laser focused in God’s presence.
Call upon the One who died and resurrected for you. He is waiting patiently. Whatever He may ask of you, like changing jobs so you will live a more balanced life or selling those possessions that keep you from living out His truths, trust Him. He may have you face your past for it keeps you in a prison cell. Remember, He came to set you free. Though scary and hard, God is with you as you surrender to His ways and trust your tomorrows to Him.
Carol J German 