Where is the Focus?

Oswald Chambers, "Never allow anything that divides or destroys the oneness of your life with Christ to remain in your life without facing it. Beware of allowing the influence of your friends or your circumstances to divide your life. This only serves to sap your strength and slow your spiritual growth. Beware of anything that can split your oneness with Him, causing you to see yourself as separate from Him. Nothing is as important as staying right spiritually. And the only solution is a very simple one— 'Come to Me...' The intellectual, moral, and spiritual depth of our reality as a person is tested and measured by these words. Yet in every detail of our lives where we are found not to be real, we would rather dispute the findings than come to Jesus."

It is amazing to me how much I need my friends. I need others in my life to calm me. It is amazing to me how I can get so bent out of shape and think that I must be the one to do something. This is when I realize that I am not relying on Christ, but that I put myself in such a high position that I actually think that He needs me to get something done. When in reality, instead of me needing to do the work for Him, He is actually trying to do a work in me.

2 Kings 18, Hezekiah- "He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow Him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him... In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them." Hezekiah became fearful and turned to the Lord. He wore sackcloth and begged the Lord for help. 2 Kings 19, "That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there." (You really need to read all of 18-20 for the full view of Hezekiah).

This was one of Hezekiah's greatest victories, and he did nothing, but turn to God for help with this daunting reality. Often, we see something and think that we are the ones that must deal with that issue. However, many times we are allowed to see that impossible task so that we will know that only God can conquer it. Hezekiah's first response was to turn to the Lord. Then when Isaiah told Him that the Lord would take care of the problem, he believed. Then, all he had to do was sit back and watch the mighty power of God revealed. Are we like this when life throws us something that seems daunting. Do we think that we have to solve the problem? Are taking our problems to God? Do we listen and trust God when He is speaking to us through others?

My focus needs to remain on Christ. I need to keep my heart and eyes upon Him. I need to remember that in this relationship that I am developing with Him, I will see more, but that does not mean that I see everything, or that I need to do anything. If I will keep my eyes upon Him, He will allow me to see things that I have never before seen. If I will keep my eyes upon Him, then I will learn to wait for Him. If I will keep my eyes upon Him, then I will learn to trust that He is strong enough for any army that is threatening to war against my heart. And in learning to trust Him through everything, then I will live in peace and not have to worry.

Matthew 6:25-34, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Keeping my eyes on God will allow me to live this day to its fullest. The rest is for Him to conquer. I need to learn to wait upon the Lord, so that I can see His mighty deeds.