I just had a great bible study. It was one of those studies that provoked a lot of in depth thought. One of those lessons that I was like, “I’ve got to share this.” I am doing a study in Philippians guided by Jennie Allen. The topic is “Get Out of Your Head” encouraging Christians to notice that they have the power to reroute their mind and retrain their focus when the world carries our thoughts elsewhere.
Right after the ball dropped this year, I felt like everybody adopted the theme “Vision: Refocus for 2020.” Surely, somewhere you’ve been introduced to this title for a conference, lecture, or mission statement of some sort this year. All of our focus was being redirected.
Then, COVID. I can’t stand this saying. Remember when we used to say, “But God!” and we’d talk about his power of doing incredible things in our lives? I just knew that COVID was a bomb planted by Satan to cause us to lose the very focus we were trying to prioritize. And I’m ashamed to say in my life, he won a lot of the battles.
Some of you may not know this, but I’m currently quarantined. I’ve been home since Monday due to a student testing positive in my class. When I got word that we were going back into the school’s I was a little nervous that I would become susceptible to this virus. Every thought that crossed my mind had to do with some variation of corona effects-on my students, my family, my shows, and even my health. I started every conversation with a COVID update, because it was such an easy conversation starter….it was taking over everyone’s thoughts. (And it’s tough to have a “positive” corona conversation.)
Paul wrote Philippians while he was in prison. In Acts 16:6-7, we read how Paul and his companions were wanting to travel to Asia to preach the gospel to a group of people who were oblivious to Christ. But God intervened. He sent a vision to Paul urging him to go preach in Macedonia. This move led to Paul falling into prison. Our cute little human minds would have gone bitter, right? I mean, if you did things your way, you could have avoided this nightmare of being imprisoned, but yet, you did it God’s way and here you are. However, we don’t ever hear Paul complain about this move. In Philippians 1:12-13 it says, “Brothers and sisters, here is what I want you to know. What has happened to me has actually helped to spread the good news. One thing has become clear. I am being held by chains because I am a witness for Christ. All the place guards and everyone else know it.” His focus is clear in verse 13. His focus is “for Christ.”
This is a full out war with our mind! It’s not just hard, it’s extremely hard. But Paul managed to keep his focus and was rewarded for that victory, just as we will be. He says in chapter 4 verses 12-13 of Philippians, “I know what it’s like not to have what I need. I also know what it’s like to have more than I need. I have learned the secret of being content no matter what happens….I can do all this by the power of Christ. He gives me strength.”
We are capable of this power. It will take some rethinking though. With change comes pain, right? There can be no change if there’s no pain. The first step is identifying our focus right now. What is the thing that you think about more than anything else? If you aren’t sure, listen in on your own conversations with people or where your mind drifts when you’re alone in your car. You will be able to identify that thing immediately. Then ask yourself, “If Christ comes today, is this thing really going to matter as much as it does right now? Christ is forever. Corona isn’t. Materialistic things isn’t. Our body (fat or skinny) isn’t. Our health isn’t. Our career isn’t. Our financial state isn’t. Our family isn’t. You know what else isn’t? Good works. It’s awesome to be in service to people–we are called to do that. We are called to help out in bible classes, mission trips, services projects, etc. But, those things still fall second to Christ. Even good works can get in the way of our focus if we let them fog up our main vision. Paul was able to find contentment because his entire focus was on Christ more than any other idol Satan dangled in front of his face.
I started my year off with “2020 Vision: Focus of God” as my theme, too. I was writing a book, I had big plans for school, the show choir was performing in Disney, etc. Then in early February, everything started to plummet. I had migraine issues, got diagnosed with PCOS, corona happened, Disney was cancelled, the rest of the school year was cancelled, my shows were cancelled, my birthday didn’t happen (which was okay, because I’m assuming that I didn’t actually get a year older this year…)Ellie got the flu, Peyton got the flu, I got the flu, Ben got the flu…on 4 different weeks! I deemed 2020 as: THE YEAR OF DISAPPOINTMENT. But around early April, I had been home so long that I finished my book. I was so proud of accomplishing something that I planned to take 3-5 years in process, but God had worked it out in His almighty plan to allow me the time I needed to finish this work so that it could be carried out. Not only did I finish, I sold 200 copies in a week. I’m continuing to get messages about ways this book is affecting girls across the country. I am amazed at God’s plans constantly, and I don’t know why I end up as shocked as I am; I know God’s power. And, I know when His strength is involved, “I can do all things.”
We can’t control every situation that we are in, but we have full control of how we think about every situation and where we choose to put out focus.
New plan:
2020: A TIME OF REFOCUS
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