There are a lot of things that can entangle our minds. The stack of bills on our desk, the never-ending to-do list, and today’s headlines are enough to make us want to hide. Keeping our focus on everything around us creates much stress and anxiety in our lives; however, the Bible suggests we place our focus elsewhere.
Hebrews 12:2 encourages more focus to be placed on our faith and less on the world. “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”
Focusing on Jesus in today’s world can certainly be challenging, so here are a few tips to help adjust focus today.
Start the day by spending time with the Lord. Spend some time reading Scripture and praying. This will help start the day in the right way.
Follow the advice of Philippians 4. Think about whatever is pure, admirable, lovely, and excellent. All these adjectives point to Jesus.
Try equalizing the time spent on today’s worries with time thinking about the promises of the Lord. Equalize the worry about finances with a reminder of the Lord’s promise to provide.
Remember to focus on the Lord today as so much tries to grab your attention.
The mail brings an unexpected invoice. Where are we going to find the money to pay it?
My wife is delayed in responding to my text. Did something happen to her?
My boss is acting differently today. Did I do something to upset her?
Worry seems to find its way into our lives, and left uncontrolled, worry can cause significant harm. It can affect our physical health. The APA and Mayo Clinic list digestive issues, trouble sleeping, and migraines as some of worry’s implications. The Association also mentions worry negatively impacts our relationships by creating a number of unnecessary conflicts. This is why it is so important for you and I to handle worry in an appropriate way.
Thankfully, Scripture gives guidance on controlling and combatting worry. The Bible offers several suggestions for handling worry. Here are a few examples:
Pray and seek God’s guidance: Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This verse encourages us to pray to God with a grateful heart, presenting our requests to Him and trusting Him to provide peace in our hearts.
Trust in God’s provision: Matthew 6:25-34 encourages us to trust in God’s provision for our needs. Verse 33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This verse reminds us to prioritize our relationship with God and trust Him to take care of our needs.
Cast our anxieties on God: 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” This verse reminds us that we can trust God to care for us and to take our worries from us.
Focus on positive and uplifting thoughts: Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” This verse encourages us to focus on positive and uplifting thoughts, which can help to alleviate worry.
If you are struggling with worry, there are steps you can take to find relief and peace. The Bible offers powerful guidance and reassurance for those who are feeling anxious or overwhelmed. Remember to pray and seek God’s guidance, trust in His provision, cast your anxieties on Him, and focus on positive and uplifting thoughts. By implementing these strategies, you can begin to reduce worry and find comfort in the knowledge that God cares for you. Don’t let worry hold you back – take action today to find the peace and serenity that you deserve.
The old saying goes, “We can be our own worst enemy,” and there are times it is completely true. Have you ever allowed thoughts about yourself to rob you of peace?
A project didn’t turn out the way you desired, so you criticize every mistake.
You were late for work because you were stuck in traffic, so you blame yourself for not having enough time.
You compare yourself to the appearance of others, and beat yourself up because you do not have the life you believe they do.
It can be a struggle to not strip ourselves of peace when we’re having a bad day. Scripture gives some advice for these days.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, present your requests to God. And, the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Philippians 4:6-7).
“Cast your anxieties upon the Lord because he cares for you deeply” (1 Peter 5:7).
Take those unpeaceful moments to the Lord. Allow him to carry those burdens and hand you, his peace.
You’re probably judging the project more critically than others will.
The Lord may have an encouraging message for you during that traffic jam.
Social media doesn’t tell the full story, so others may be having the same thoughts when they compare themselves to us.
Leon was the innkeeper. He was so excited to have finally landed the part, and he practiced for weeks. He had his lines – well, line – perfect.
“There’s no room in the inn,” is all Leon had to say, but Leon became so emotionally involved in the part and the Christmas story that he added a few lines.
There’s no room in the inn,” he said, “but Jesus you can have my room. Jesus, you can have it all!”
Leon may have messed up a little, but his extra lines inspire a question. How well do we allow Jesus to have everything?
From the worries surrounding our finances to the burden of guilt for yesterday’s mistakes, do we allow Jesus to have it all?
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light,” (Matthew 11:28-30(.
A family who had twin boys wanted to teach them a lesson about attitude. They took each boy and placed him in a room by himself. The room was full of horse manure. They told the boys they had to stay in their rooms for an hour, then they would come get them. When the family returned to the first boy’s room, he was sitting in the corner of the room just watching the clock, but when they returned to the second boy’s room, he was shoveling the manure out the window. “why are you doing that?” they asked. He replied, “With all this manure in here, there has to be a pony at the bottom of the pile.” The boys were in similar situations but took completely different approaches.
Attitude determines how we approach life. Our attitude determines the approach we take to life. Paul, the writer of Philippians, gives three keys to help us take the right approach.
The first key is not to worry.
Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not worry about anything….” A scholar did a word study on “anything,” and discovered it really means, “anything.” Don’t worry, that sounds an awful lot like what Jesus says, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”
Jesus uses birds for an example; they do not go out and sow seed in the spring, and water the seed all summer so they can reap a harvest in the fall. They don’t do that, yet they still have food to eat. God provides for them, and if he will provide for birds, why wouldn’t he also provide for us?
When we worry, we are putting God into a box and slamming a lid on it. This problem is too big for me to handle, so it must be too big for God. We can’t go there; we can’t raise that much money. In all honesty, that is what we think sometimes. Yet, Ephesians 3:20 says God can do immeasurably more than we can imagine.
Think about that for just a moment. Immeasurably more than we can imagine; you can’t measure something that is immeasurable – it is impossible, and we can imagine some pretty big things. That means God can do immeasurably more than we can comprehend. When things come up that are too big for us, we should be asking, “How big is God?” The answer is, he can do immeasurably more than we can imagine. Jesus says if we seek after the Kingdom first, all our other needs will be met.
Stop and think. There is not anyone who has added time to their life by worrying about it. Jesus says we shouldn’t worry about tomorrow, because today has enough troubles of its own. Not worrying is the first key.
The second key is to pray about everything.
Instead of spending time worrying about tomorrow, Scripture suggests that time would be more wisely spent praying about it. Paul says the result of carrying everything to God in prayer is that his peace will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. A peace that we know no matter what comes our way, we’ll be able to get through it with the help of Jesus. We may not understand it or comprehend how this is possible, but we know that it is true. We should not worry about anything but carry everything to God in prayer through Christ. Praying about everything is the second key.
The third key is to have a positive outlook.
We should have a positive outlook. We are encouraged to dwell in the following territory: whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.
Every adjective in this list points to something good, something positive. The opposite of things that are good and positive are bad and negative. The question is, which one are we going to concentrate on – the negative or the positive?
Two men attended the same church service on the same Sunday morning. The first man noticed the organist missed a note during the prelude, the music was too loud, and the preacher had a slip of the tongue six times. The second man enjoyed the prelude because it was one of his favorite hymns, was deeply moved by the music, and listened intently to the sermon because it answered a question that had bothered him for a long time. The difference between these two men is what they concentrated on. The first man took a negative outlook, while the second man took a positive outlook. Which outlook in life are you taking?
The past year or so has served as a great reminder there will always be trouble in life. Lost jobs, economic hardships, and uncertainty will always be a part of our lives. And, I’m not saying if we get up in the morning and think it is going to be a beautiful day, that it will automatically become a beautiful day. We will experience trouble from time to time. We will face trials of many kinds, but how we respond to these trials is up to us. We can either sit around dwelling on the negative, or we can concentrate on the positive.
We all have something to thank God for. Here are some stats.
If you were able to get up this morning in good health, you are better off than 2 million people around the world.
If you are not persecuted, you are better off than 3 billion others in the world.
Attitude determines a lot in life. Put yourself in the story of the twins. Which boy are you? Are you the one sitting in the corner absorbed by the smell and watching the clock? If so, consider putting these three keys into practice.
The people of Israel found themselves in the desert where there are not a lot of food choices. Walking through the desert day after day is bound to strike up a hunger, so they had to eat something. They did not know what they were going to eat so the people grumbled. They had been pulled out of the fertile lands of Egypt and placed in the dry, parched desert. How on earth were they going to survive? Anxiety levels elevated; the Israelites quickly forgot how the Lord brought them out of Egypt.
But the Lord had a plan. Exodus 16 reveals the Lord sent manna each day for the Israelites. Verses 21-22 record, “Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much, two omers, for each person, and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.” For the entirety of their trip, the Israelites were provided manna. The Lord met their needs.
The Israelites were taught a valuable lesson. The Lord can provide for our needs. What seemed impossible to them, was easy for the Lord. They saw a dry and parched land, but the Lord saw a bread basket. The Lord had provisions to meet the need. All the Israelites had to do was trust him.
Later, Moses recalled, “He humbled you, causing you to hunger then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). The people spent 40 years in the desert, yet they had food, water, clothes that stayed wearable, and feet that were not swollen. The Lord continually met their needs.
The Bible teaches the Lord is still in the need meeting business today. John 6:35 says, “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Like the Israelites, our anxiety levels may be high. We may not understand how the Lord could possibly meet the needs in a situation or circumstance we are facing, but he put manna on the ground. What needs do you need to trust the Lord to meet today? Like the Israelites, he desires for us to trust him with our needs.
Is my influence large enough? Do I reach enough people to really make a difference? These are questions that come to mind as we struggle in our search for significance. This may be especially true in an era of Facebook and Instagram influencers with millions of followers. You look at their accounts and they have millions of followers, but your account does not. I look at their pictures and they have thousands of likes, but my pictures do not. So, we begin to doubt the importance of our influence.
We begin to wonder if we even matter, and ask, “Why do we even bother?” The Bible tells us we do matter. You and I may not be the Billy Graham of our era, but our influence is impactful.
A few will reach millions of people, some will reach thousands of people, but most of us will only reach a few people. Perhaps just one person, but our influence is still meaningful.
A Premium on One
The Bible places a high premium on reaching one person. Glimpse through Luke 15 and we see a high premium placed on reaching one person.
Seeking Out One
Jesus uses 3 parables in Luke 15 to help us understand the importance of reaching one person
A Lost Sheep
A shepherd had 100 sheep and 1 went missing. The shepherd leaves 99 of the sheep to seek out the one who is in danger. He celebrates when he finds the 1 sheep. If the sheep wasn’t important, he would have left it to stay with the other 99.
A Lost Coin
A widow loses a coin in her home, so she moves everything out and sweeps the house until she finds the coin. When she finds the coin, she celebrates. If the coin was not valuable, she would have not risked moving her possessions into the elements of the outdoors to find the coin.
A Lost Son
A father believes his son is never going to be back in his life, but when the boy returns, the father celebrates. He has a grand celebration because his son has come home. If his son was not significant, he would have not celebrated.
Rejoicing Over One
Luke 15 tells us each time one is found there is rejoicing.
Verse 7: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
Verse 10: “In the same way I tell you there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Verse 32: “But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.”
Reaching just one person is important. Reaching one individual is significant. A small influence is still potent.
A Rock in a Lake
The significance of our influence is like throwing a rock in a lake. The rock hits the water sending out a wave. The first wave sends out a second wave. The second wave sends out a third wave and so on. Each circular wave grows. Each wave is larger than the previous. The wave action starts when the rock hits the water. Our influence is the rock starting the wave affect.
Jesus started with 12.
The Bible reminds us Jesus did not start with millions of followers. He started with only 12. His influence launched from there. The original 12 may have each only reached 12 people and so on. It did not take long until Jesus’ influence was huge.
Most of us will reach a few people and our influence will go out from there. We have a significant place in the Lord’s plan. Reaching a few is as important to the Lord as reaching millions. The Lord has put you and I in a place which matters to him. Our influence has significance.
Acting
With whom do you have an influence? Ask the Lord to help you seize opportunities you have to influence the people around you.
Please share this post with anyone who would find it helpful and encouraging.
Do I matter? This is a question you and I often ask, and the answer is yes, we do matter.
Significance is something we all search for. Not necessarily to always be in the spotlight as that may not be our place or personality, but to know our life matters. We desire to know our work matters. We like to know the choices we make have an impact. We want to know the act of service we offer is needed. Everyone needs to know his or her life is important and making a difference.
Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world filled with jobs that treat us as disposable, institutions who say our contribution doesn’t matter, and bullies who treat us horribly. All causing us to struggle on our search for significance.
The Bible offers encouragement as we are on our significance search. You and I are reminded we are significant in the Lord’s eyes.
You are significant in the Lord’s eyes.
We are already significant in the Lord’s eyes. We have always been significant in the Lord’s sight.
“For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be,” Psalm 139:13-16 says.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handy work, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
The Search is Over
Our search for significance can be over. We can find our significance in the Lord.
To the employer who treats us as disposable, the Lord says he is wrong.
To a board of directors who say we have nothing to contribute, the Lord says they are wrong.
To the bullies who point and laugh, the Lord says they are wrong.
Feeling trapped in a hopeless situation? Please know there is always hope in this promise the Lord makes us.
The Promise
John 14:2-3 says, “My Father’s house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you. And, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
“I’m coming back for you,” Jesus promises. In a world filled with broken hearts and unkept promises, these words of Jesus give us a promise in which we can fully trust. The promise is coming from a trustworthy source.
Jesus and his disciples are having an intense conversation. Jesus is preparing the disciples for events which will soon take place. The news is unsettling. It is perplexing and frightening to the disciples, so Jesus requests their trust and assures them of his return. Jesus’ words were a familiar comfort to the disciples.
A Familiar Promise
Jesus made his promise of returning in an everyday way to his disciples. An engagement would have immediately come to mind.
Weddings were done differently in the first century as the marriage was arranged. When it was decided a bride and groom would be married, the groom would make a promise to his bride.
He would say something like, “In my father’s house are many rooms, and I’m going to prepare a place for you. When I have finished preparing the place, I will come back to get you. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Newly married couples would live in the groom’s father’s house. If there were several generations living there, it could be a large structure. Upon their engagement, the groom would return to his father’s house to prepare the necessary addition to the home. The only hitch was he did not know when the addition would be completed. His promise did not include date and time. He just promised he would return to get the bride.
While she was anticipating her groom’s return, the bride learned how to have a successful household from her mother, and at night, she would place a lamp in her window so the groom could find her if he returned. The couple would have a beautiful wedding ceremony when the groom returned.
A Hopeful Promise
Think again of Jesus’ words. “My Father’s house has many rooms….” Jesus is giving us the promise of a groom. He has gone to prepare a place for us.
Like a first century bride, our job is to prepare for his return, and just like the bride, we don’t know a date or time.
Jesus is off preparing a place for us, and he has promised us he will return. He has promised you and I he will return, and if we trust him, we can find much hope in this promise.
If you are feeling hopeless, cling to this promise. For there is always hope in Christ.
Acting
How do you find hope in this promise? Share in the comments below.
Know someone who would find this post encouraging? Please share it with him or her.
Zack and his dad were hiking in the mountains of Tennessee on a sunny afternoon. Zack’s dad hears from above, “Hey dad! Catch me!”
Horrified to see Zack falling from an above cliff, the dad quickly put himself into position and successfully caught Zack. A moment passed while the dad calmed his nerves. Then he asked, “What happened?”
“I jumped,” the boy replied.
Why on earth did you jump,” the dad inquired.
Zack answered, “Because I know you are my dad and I knew you would catch me.”
Zack had complete trust in his dad because he was Zack’s father.
Trust is Foundational
Trust is the foundation for any relationship. Friends must trust each other. Parents and children must trust each other. Husbands and wives must trust each other. Our relationship with Jesus requires we trust him.
Jesus Requests Our Trust
Jesus requests in John 14:1 we trust him.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.”
Jesus is having a conversation with his disciples, and he is giving them much to consider. He’s telling the disciples what is going to happen soon, but from their vantage point, there is still a great deal unknown. Jesus knows it is perplexing, maybe even frightening, for the disciples, so he makes a request that they trust him. The same request Jesus makes of us.
What’s going to happen in the future? If you could know the answer, would you want it? I wouldn’t, but the unknown is nerve-racking too. We dislike the unknown. We find it perplexing and frightening just like the disciples, so Jesus says, “Trust me.”
Jesus asks that we trust him. Trust him with our jobs and careers, our families and relationships, our money and financial health, and our lives. Jesus asks that we trust him with everything.
Why can we trust the Lord?
Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
The Lord has proven himself trustworthy by giving us his son. So, the question you and I need to answer is do we trust him? Do we trust him with our jobs and careers, our families and relationships, and money and financial health, and our lives? Do we trust him with everything?
Do we have the complete trust Zack did?
Acting
Make a list of the areas of your life where you may need to trust the Lord more. Ask him to help you build that trust. Share your experience in the comments below.
Please share this post with anyone you believe would find it encouraging.
Get Encouraged 