The Importance of Learning to Focus Our Lives

The last twenty months I have been asked several times by people responding to this blog, who have just worn themselves to frazzle, a nagging question. Their question comes down to this: "Why does life have to be so hard?" I see myself and others making really stupid decisions or no decisions and just accepting whatever comes from a lack of choosing wisely which way to go to find real joy in life. As I just said,  I have also been a victim of not choosing wisely and settling for less than God's best! I know what they are going through. We all do it! Are we victims? No, simply because we choose our life's direction based on various factors. We all, at some point in time, just decide to go with the flow rather than stand up and do what is right. We have enemies as believers, the world and it's influence, our own fleshly desires, and satan himself will place any obstacle he can to keep us preoccupied with bad decisions to set our lives on a path that glorifies God and gives us joy.

I was looking at Dr. Charles Stanley's Life Principle 13 this morning:

LIFE PRINCIPLE 13: LISTENING TO GOD — WALKING WITH GOD
One of the most important lessons we can learn is how to listen to God. In our complex and hectic lives, nothing is more urgent, nothing more necessary, and nothing more rewarding than hearing what God has to say to us.
By Charles F. Stanley
http://www.intouch.org/read/life-principle-13-listening-to-god-walking-with-god
An excerpt I picked up on was this:
This may be one of the most important concepts you will grasp in learning how to listen to God. When the Lord speaks, He is speaking to you. The Word of God contains His truth; therefore, take it personally. Allow His Holy Spirit to open your heart so you will have a deeper understanding of Scripture. When you do, you can begin to claim His promises for your life. You also will gain a deeper understanding of His provision, care, and love.

God is serious about His relationship with you. He speaks for your benefit, and it is important for you to listen to Him and respond in obedience. Sometimes He will challenge you to change your thinking or to release certain unhealthy feelings and opinions.Yet with every instruction He gives, you can be certain it is for your good. He desires to encourage and mature you so that you might live with greater joy and strength. He also wants to transform you into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ—helping you to become the very best you can be.

We, as believers, must learn how to talk and listen to God in order to do the next step!

The Importance of Learning to Focus Our Lives

Listening to God was not the main topic I wanted write about, but it is imperative that we learn how to talk and listen to God in order to focus our lives down a path that is pleasing to God and does not wear us ragged in the process. Several places in the Old Testament we are told by God these words:

Joshua 24:14-15 14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

In the New Testament we hear the words "work out salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12)

In Philippians 2:12-13, Paul writes, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purpose.”

This text is often misused to instill fear into people, warning them that it means that they can lose salvation. What does it mean to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Paul can hardly be encouraging believers to live in a continuous condition of nervousness and anxiety. That would contradict his many other exhortations to peace of mind, courage, and confidence in the God who authors our salvation. The Greek word translated "fear" in this context can equally mean "reverence" or "respect." Paul uses the same phrase in (2 Corinthians 7:15) where he refers to Titus as being encouraged by the Corinthians’ reception of him “with fear and trembling,” that is, with great humility and respect for his position as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul himself came to the Corinthian church in “weakness and fear, and with much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3), mindful of the great and awesome nature of the work in which he was engaged.

The sense in which we are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling is twofold. First, the Greek verb rendered “work out” means "to continually work to bring something to completion or fruition." We do this by actively pursuing obedience in the process of sanctification, which Paul explains further in the next chapter of Philippians. He describes himself as “straining” and “pressing on” toward the goal of Christlikeness (Philippians 3:13-14). The “trembling” he experiences is the attitude Christians are to have in pursuing this goal—a healthy fear of offending God through disobedience and an awe and respect for His majesty and holiness. "Trembling" can also refer to a shaking due to weakness, but this is a weakness of higher purpose, one which brings us to a state of dependency on God. Obedience and submission to the God we revere and respect is our “reasonable service” (Romans 12:1-2) and brings great joy. Psalm 2:11 sums it up perfectly: “Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.” We work out our salvation by going to the very source of our salvation—the Word of God—wherein we renew our hearts and minds (Romans 12:1-2), coming into His presence with a spirit of reverence and awe.

Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

What do all of these have unrelated scriptures have in common? They involve the active work of CHOOSING!


Our lives can run Helter Skelter unless we learn how to focus on a goal in life. The goal must be God-centered in order to bring fruitfulness and satisfaction to the believer. There can only be one major goal, but each major goal must have steps or goals in order to achieve the main focus of our lives. This isn't rocket science, but it does involve being very honest with yourself and realizing that your life is scattered all over the place. Even an indecision is a bad decision because then we open up the door to chaos in our lives. God built within us the ability to choose and then gave us instruction on how to use this ability to choose to bring about wisdom. Unfortunately, none of us practice this all the time and so we bring trouble and frustration into our lives and lose sight of the main goal! If you are busy putting out all the small forest fires in your life rather than choosing wisely along the way you have already lost the battle...BUT NOT THE WAR!

By the way, did I mention the fact that lack of focus will cause you to lose not only site of the goal, but will bring physical and mental stress, even to the point of death! Yep! It's that serious!

Okay! How do we get to the place where we can find focus?

ONE: Realize your life is in chaos-even controlled chaos is stressful! If you are suffering from stress you have been doing it wrong! So decide what is your main goal and then get honest with how you got to the point where you were pulled in so many directions.

TWO: When that realization is honest, make a list of all the things that distract your attention from acheiving where you want to be. WARNING! Be deadly honest with yourself on how you got to the place of stress that leads to chaos. This can and does include bad decisions you made along the way. Everything in our life affects the outcome of our life, but mistakes don't have to mean ultimate FAILURE. We can at any point in life evaluate our failures and choose to go a different direction in order to bring about a successful walk with God. You've heard the expression, "it ain't over until the fat lady sings." At the close of the opera usually some really large person enters the stage and sings the finale. Well as long as there is breath in your lungs, there is life! As long as their life, there is hope for change. But you must take an active role in bringing about that change. God won't for you, but He will give you the wisdom to do it!

James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraides not; and it shall be given him.

THREE: Go about setting each distraction in focus and do what must be done to keep that distraction to the bare minimum. It takes some brutal honesty at times to remove distractions and set things right. Do this one by one until you reach the place where you can set honest goals for yourself to get you where you really want to be. Write down what steps must be taken in order to lower the expectation of others that keep you from achieving what you need to be doing. You cannot be a people-pleaser (that includes family) and be focused on the goal of pleasing God with your life. Everyone has expectations of you that can bring failure in being who you are and where you want to be in life. Those people are not out to get you but their expectations may not be what God has in mind for you.

STEP FOUR: DECIDE TO CHANGE WHAT IS WRONG AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU! What is your ultimate goal in life? Set steps in place to acheive that goal. Remove obstacles that stop you from doing the right things and setting your life in order. REMEMBER THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DISTRACTIONS BUT KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE!

2 Timothy 4:7-8New American Standard Bible (NASB)

7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8. in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
See you next blog,
Ted