It’s about our focus.

“When our focus is fixed on Jesus
our stability and our contentedness
cannot be altered by circumstance”

This is a quote from a beautiful poem that one of my best friends wrote while she was praying for me.

As my friend was writing this poem, I had been asking Jesus to speak into the very things she had written about. I had been feeling uncertain about my future and discouraged by some of my past regrets and experiences. I was feeling exhausted by my responsibilities and weighed down by my fear of making the wrong decisions for my life.

The words that were written that day were pivotal for me in that season of my life. I continue to read it most days and I am still learning so much. Today, I just wanted to share with you a few of the things that I have learnt and have been encouraged by since:

Firstly, I was amazed that God would want to share his thoughts with me through poetry. I was reminded that being created in his image meant that it wasn’t just he who shared in my passions but I who shared in His. By that thought alone, I was and still am blown away.

Secondly, I was reminded of this verse:

“Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.” - 1 Peter 5:7

It helped me to realise that the responsibility I was carrying and the pressure I had put on myself to make the right decisions all the time, were never asked of me by my God. His love and care for me had never been dependent on my good behaviour or my own righteousness. I learnt that it is because of his love and care for me that I can live carefree in freedom and grace.

Finally, Jesus taught me the importance of where I place my focus. He revealed to me that when I focus on myself and all my worries, I quickly get caught up in fleshly troubles like comparison and striving. Whereas, when I place my focus on him, I find peace and truth in every situation.

So what is the tool? How can we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus when life can be so distracting?

I have learnt that we can do this through praise and thanksgiving (PSALM 100:4). When we say ‘thank you Jesus for you’ and praise him for all his goodness; our eyes shift from ourselves and onto him. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever! He is always faithful and his love will always be enough to carry us through.

______________________________________________________________

P.s. I want to say thank you to my friend who prayed for me. Often times we say we will pray for people but from my experience, it’s easy to forget to actually pray. Ana, you have encouraged me to spend more time praying for the people in my life.

x Emma Elizabeth W