Having a Wrong “Focus” Can Derail Your Faith (Part 2)

In the first article on this subject I explained that often we focus too much on our problems and brokenness and thus fail to encourage our walk with focusing on the goodness of God. Let me explain up front that I do not believe you can ignore our many problems or deny them, but if the problem is taking up most of your perception in life you are bound to continue in them and develop greater damage to your soul. As a counselor and pastor I would try to help people see their main problem and then help them focus on God’s ability to resolve and overcome these problems. By helping people see God’s proven faithfulness in other’s lives, we gain hope and confidence for ourselves. If you have not read part one on this same subject please read before continuing with this article.

I established that King David was a good example of a person that focused on God’s greatness and proven faithfulness rather than being absorbed primarily with things that are wrong. Granted, he saw the issues that were wrong around him, but he didn’t get “trapped” in the endless cycle of despair and defeat associated with only seeing the problems. David’s primary focus was on the “Goodness of God“, which enabled him to believe for breakthroughs and victories over any problem he encountered. David therefore saw that the “Key” to victory was to bless God for the things God already had done to win our confidence. Psalms 103 illustrates David’s resolve not to forget the things God had already done by telling his soul to focus on the character and provision of God.

I now want to relate how “Blessing God” changes us and “Should Motivate” us to extend thanksgiving to God. To speak the words, bless the Lord and think they are magical words is not what David did.  He spoke “To The Lord” as we speak to a friend or father. By being in the presence of God, speaking such words shows we have the intentions of contributing to God’s happiness. Too often a Christian’s theology becomes messed up by thinking we speak “Things Into Existence” like a magician saying some magical spell, which is a copycat of witchcraft, or we use King James English because we think it sounds more spiritual.  What God is looking for is an honest transparency that reflects our true perception of his kindness and goodness. It’s like a compliment you make when eating a great meal at someone’s home. The right thing to do is look at the person who did the work and say, “This is a great meal” in order to bless their labors. God made mankind in his image. Part of that image is the ability to feel emotion, which is a God-given attribute. God therefore feels either the displeasure of his creation or he feels the gratitude of his people. Far too few of us believers, who call ourselves Christians, sense the responsibility to bless God for his loving-kindness, which he extends to us regularly. We, as God’s children, should delight in making our Heavenly Father glad.

Look at David’s advice on how he blessed God. He didn’t do so with hollow religious words but rather a mind that had realized how generous the Lord had been and a heart that was full of the perception that God is the “answer” to all we struggle with. David didn’t just think about God’s goodness, he openly expressed his thoughts to God and encouraged others to do likewise.

Psalms 26:6-7                                                                                                                                                                         

I will wash my hands in innocence; So I will go about Your altar, O LORD,  That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works.

Psalms 50:14-15                                                                                                                                                                 

Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.  Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

Psalms 75:1                                                                                                                                                                            

We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!  For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.

Before I knew the Lord nothing my parents did for me was good enough. They didn’t give me what I wanted. They made me do things I didn’t like. They always seemed to speak negative things to me. Yet, when I give my life to Christ and surrendered my will to God all of a sudden my perspective on things in my life, like my parents, changed. I finally could see the good things they had done for me. I understood they were dealing with their own warped perspective on life and the unfairness of things that seemed to happen to them. The first Christmas I experienced as a believer I was sitting at the counter talking to my mom when she said, “We hope you like the things we got you for Christmas this year?” My response was, “I’m sure I will because life is different for me now.” My mom responded, “I know it is, we have seen the change.”  I had been saved almost a year at that point and I knew I could not witness the love of God to my parents until I had a chance to let them witness for themselves the transformation that had occurred in me. There was no better Christmas gift I could have received that Christmas than to know my parents had witnessed, first hand, God changing my life.

The apostle Paul gave us some very sound advise about what we focus on and how it should affect our disposition and outlook on the future.

Philippians 4:8-9                                                                                                                                                          

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. [9] The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

As the Lord bring up things in our lives that are still broken, don’t get captivated by your brokenness.  Instead, get captivated by God’s goodness and then take the things that are twisted or broken in your soul to the Lord. His desire is to heal and redeem all that the enemy has sown in us and bring us to a healthy place in Him.  When that happens, we can reflect the goodness of God and cause others to see the transformation that only God can bring to a person.

Questions:

1) Have you started to focus on the goodness of God this year? If not, why not?

2) Will you let the Holy Spirit unveil God’s heart to you in 2019? It will change your focus and your faith.

May God help all of us to see His goodness in the land of the living and to raise our faith to new levels.

Pastor Dale