FIX YOUR FOCUS
KEY SCRIPTURE: He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ~ Matthew 14:29-32 (ESV)
The other morning I was sitting in my car beside the river, and I was angry. I was replaying a conversation a friend and I recently had and my mind was consumed with the hurtful things I’d heard and felt. I was grumpy at the state of the world… grumpy for things being so inconvenient and difficult right now… grumpy that things are just not going the way I want them to go!
And as I sat there consumed in my grumpitude, all I heard was noise.
It was deafening.
The cars rushing to and fro… the diesels roaring by, belching out suffocating fumes as they passed… the banging of the nearby construction site… the pounding of the thoughts as they ricocheted off the walls in my mind. It was too much! I was beginning to sink so, like Peter on the waves, I cried out, “Lord, save me!”
He didn’t reach out and physically grab me like He did Peter, but He did immediately grab my attention with three little words.
“Fix your focus.”
The words struck me, so I stopped for a moment and closed my eyes. I silenced the thoughts in my brain. I took a few deep breaths and felt how fresh the air really was. I stilled my angry heart and shut out the sounds of the world, just listening to my breath for a few. In the stillness of my breathing He gently repeated, “Just like Peter, you need to fix your focus.”
I opened my eyes and looked around.
It was a glorious morning… the sun was glistening off the water, the geese were drifting lazily in the current, the birds were chattering in the branches above me, and two squirrels were scampering up and down the trunks and through the branches of the trees in a frenetic game of tag. My heart began to breathe as I allowed the peaceful splendor of the morning to soak deep into my core. The traffic and construction were still there, but as I brought my attention back to the birds and the beauty… everything else faded.
The Lord continued to breathe into my heart.
“Whatever you focus on becomes stronger. If you focus on your pain, it becomes more intense. When you focus on our lack, you see more of what you don’t have. When you focus on your loneliness or your brokenness or your failings, giving them your power and energy and attention, then you rob yourself of the strength to step into something better. When you focus your heart on Me, you will have perfect peace.” (Isaiah 26:3, Phil 4:6-7)
This is a fallen world, and in it we WILL have trouble. There will always be mean, selfish, hurtful people. There will always be arrogant co-workers, careless drivers, vicious politicians, annoying relatives, backbiting friends, frustrating (and even frightening!) troubles of many kinds. BUT… we get to choose whether or not to give them power and allow them to steal our joy, by giving them our focus.
Paul reminds us, “…whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things. Fix your minds on them.” (Philippians 4:8)
Some translations say, “Let your mind dwell on these things.” To “dwell” means to LIVE there. Yes, we go through the bad… we go THROUGH the Valley of the Shadow of Death… (Psalm 23) but we go THROUGH it. We don’t dwell there. This is why Paul implores us to DWELL on THESE things instead. Yes, in this world the “bad” is always there, and while it’s oftentimes easier to see, the good is easier to look at… and when you focus on the good, the bad becomes blurry!
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is from the prophet Isaiah who says, “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on You, because he trusts You.” (Isaiah 26:3) Amen.
Oh, Lord… please help us to dwell in Your perfect peace by keeping our minds fixed on YOU. Moment by moment, breath by breath, each and every day of our lives. And when we start to sink into the negative… when we start to focus on the wind and the waves that threaten to drown us in our lives, please save us by grabbing us immediately like you did Peter, and bring us back to Your perfect peace… found only in You. Always.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
SCRIPTURES
Matthew 14:29-32 (ESV) ~ He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Isaiah 26:3-4 - You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages]. (AMP)
Phil 4:6-7 (NLT) ~ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:8 (AMPC) - For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things. Fix your minds on them.