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Gaining focus is something we all need to do from time to time. It has been over a year since my last post to The Daily Walk, and during that time, the Lord taught me the importance of gaining focus. When we lose sight of what our goals are, we can become surrounded by chaos. For a Christian, confusion can keep us from reaching our full potential within Christ; it can hinder our prayers. Chaos can rob us of understanding what the Lord wants for us. Gaining focus when you’re surrounded by chaos can be challenging, but it is necessary.
Surrounded by chaos
Chaos is defined by the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary as “a state of utter confusion; a confused mass or mixture.” Chaos and confusion are the same. We often hear others claim they thrive on chaos; we never hear those same folks admit they thrive on confusion. At times, I said I thrived on chaos but soon realized I was only fooling myself. God doesn’t want His children to be in a state of confusion or to have to battle chaos. Chaos and confusion do not come from God but are tokens of the fallen state of this world. Paul writes For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33). It isn’t that chaos and confusion are a sin, but they are the effects of sin.
Gaining focus isn’t easy
In the past, I have resisted sharing a lot of the personal struggles I’ve had in my walk with the Lord. It wasn’t until three weeks ago someone pointed out that they’ve learned a lot from me when I’ve shared my struggles and experiences within my faith. So, for the past five years, I’ve been struggling how to answer the Lord’s call to serve within His ministry. And during the five-year journey, chaos and confusion became a part that obscured my understanding of what the Lord wanted for me.
During that five-year journey, I hid from the Lord in the comfort of a church and a printing ministry I had started. I knew the Lord wanted me in His service, but I thought that by providing a need for the church I was in, it was all I needed to do. God responded to my efforts by calling me out of my comfort zone and moving me into another local church. For the next four years, chaos and confusion reigned supreme until I decided to listen to what the Lord was trying to teach me.
Only when we are ready to listen
David, the psalmist wrote, The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God (Psalm 14:2). He also wrote, And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee (Psalm 9:10). When we add to this the wisdom of Solomon, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding (Proverbs 3:5, we can get a glimpse of the nature of the Lord.
God is continually looking for those who are seeking Him above all else. He desires a relationship with everyone but does not force us into a relationship with Him. The Lord waits until we seek Him out; then, He helps us to understand the fullness of our relationship to Him through Christ Jesus. He wants us to put our complete trust in Him. But too often we have a problem with that last part. We worry. Stress takes over as we work out our solutions to the issues we face. We too quickly think we understand what is going on only to find our decisions have made things even worse. It isn’t until we have run out of room to run that we honestly decide to listen to the Lord and to put our trust in Him as our last option.
It is continued on the next page.
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“I want it now!” is often a phrase many of us with children have heard often. If you don’t have children, you’ve probably listened to the conversation between parent and child, too. Everyone knows that children can be impatient at times. Whether it is a toy, a stop at a restaurant, or to go outside, children are often anxious and unwilling to compromise on their demands. For a parent or any other caretaker, this becomes a lesson in patience and determination. We often see that what a child wants and what they need can often be two different things.
