"Focus Fixation"
By Zach Wood
Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Last Sunday morning, my wife and I attended an outdoor community worship
service in Redwood Falls, MN. The man who came up to do the communion
meditation made a statement about our focus in life. He talked about how it
is so easy to put our focus on situations and circumstances in life and not
be focused on Jesus Christ. He explained how we sometimes put so much
energy into trying to fix our situations and circumstances, that we
completely forget that we need to just focus on the Cross and trust Him to
help us in these times that we struggle in. I sat there so convicted and
with tears in my eyes because I know I focus way too much on the
circumstances and situations I go through and take my focus off Jesus
Christ, the only One who can give me peace throughout.
If you back up to the first verse, Paul makes the statement about how we
need to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that gets in our way.
That is so powerful! The situations or circumstances we find ourselves in
can be the exact thing keeping our focus off Jesus Christ. We cannot always
control the situations we come into or circumstances we deal with, but we
can control where our focus is for getting through the trying times. I tend
to focus so much on dealing with the issues I am facing that I forget to
allow God to lead and guide me through them. All we need is the Cross of
Christ to give us peace and serenity through the tough times of life.
If you skip down to verse four, you will see how Paul encourages us to
not grow weary or lose heart. How do we not lose heart or grow weary? We
do this by putting our complete trust in Christ Jesus. Totally focusing
upon Him and letting the things all around us become completely dim. No,
the situations and circumstances will still be there, but with Jesus in our
focus, they will seem less tense and we will have more peace. It is all
about our focus fixation. What are we fixated on?
My prayer is that each one of us will take the time to be still in God's
presence and get our attention completely turned to Him. That is what He
wants. He wants us completely focused on Him and immersed into His presence
so that we are not consumed by our trials through the situations and
circumstances in life.
What is your focus fixation today?