Stay Focused!

James 3:12-13 “Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring. If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honourable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

Have you noticed that when you start fasting, it seems like everyone everywhere you go is feasting? Sometimes, we are tempted to tell the people we do life with that we are fasting, just so that we can be spared the temptation of meals. This approach is neither here nor there, but it points to being at kindergarten level spiritually. There is a higher level and that is God’s desire for you. Where you look at pizza, Chinese food, ice-cream and it has no effect on you! That is a higher level and it is time to come up higher.
You cannot possibly control everything everywhere. If you successfully control the home front, what happens if your office decides to have a buffet for the entire week? Will you plead with them to put it off till your fast is over? You need to get to the point where your desire for God supersedes such things and it will have no effect on you. In some cases, all people are after is the praise man credits to engaging in certain types of fasts. My advice is, just ignore all that and focus on seeking God. If your focus is fasting for man’s applause, then it just points to the fact that your flesh is still very strong and active, so you have to pray. However, the sad reality is that a lot of people thirst for praise and compliments. Be careful; what if you get criticism instead?
Another thing we need to watch out for is when you have done all you can and things are still not going well, be careful not to blame or beat yourself. Particularly with the things of God and even with things in life generally. Everything in your life is of God and God is interested in everything. If you beat yourself well enough when things are not going well, there is a tendency that you will take the credit when things turnaround. It will be unfair to beat yourself when things are not going well and then not take the credit when things start going well.
What I am saying is this, whether things are going well or not, your life is for God’s glory and your story will end in His glory. Whether things go well or not, you know it is to His glory. Others may be getting the things you are trusting God for in your life, but when you understand that it is not about you, it is all about Jesus, it would not matter. We have to be dead to praise and to criticism.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, empower me to keep my eyes and heart stayed on God in every situation, in Jesus Name. Amen!