Focus On Jesus
On a bitterly cold night, burlap bags forced over our heads, stripped of our gear down to our underwear, guards wielding AK-47’s and screaming at us, we marched into a prisoner of war camp. Suddenly, we stopped. Through the pinholes in the burlap, I could just make out why: a prisoner was stripped naked, laying on the ground, his tormentors throwing ice water on him!
The next three days didn’t get any better. I was a young airman; the camp was a training exercise. I persevered knowing the torments would be over after a few days. That became a profound lesson in placing focus: not on what is immediately happening but having the long view.
If you and I could know there’s a light at the end of every dark tunnel, every cancer or loss of health, every reversal of fortune, every tragic breakup, every lost friend, we could stay positive. Unfortunately, we don’t know. We may act out, become depressed, addicted, hopeless — even suicidal. I remember learning of military pilots who crashed and, out of fear, ended their lives just before rescue came!
When life is dark, do you focus on what’s immediately happening or on the long view?
You may say, “I stay positive.” Good, but how solid is your hope–how long can you stay positive if the dark times never end? Eventually, you get to the point, as one person did, where you ask, “How can I have a long view when life is collapsing on me?”
The Bible says, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV).
You can “run with perseverance” through your dark times, when everything seems hopeless. How? Put your trust in the One who overcame death–focus on Jesus and not on your circumstances.
What did Jesus do to make him strong enough to help you now? Jesus focused on “the joy set before him.” In other words, he knew God had a plan and a purpose for the duplicity, abandonment, torture, humiliation and even death he had to suffer. He knew God the Father would crown him with eternal authority.
What does it mean that Jesus “scorned” the shame of the cross? The word means that he compared his present circumstances with the “joy set before him,” and didn’t allow himself to be concerned or caught up in the misery, hopelessness, or the drama of how others expected he should react. Instead, he focused on God’s promises.
You can’t do it by yourself. Fear lurks beneath simply “being positive.” Look beyond: FOCUS ON JESUS. He knows what you’re going through and he overcame. He will strengthen you to endure and overcome.
Then you will have hope, you will experience supernatural peace, you will find purpose and connect with an eternal view.
Today, FOCUS ON JESUS.
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