The Focus

Ex.33:¹⁹ “The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” [with emphasis]

What you do tells a story of what you actually believe. A man told his pastor that heaven and hell cannot really exist. “Why do you say that?”, his pastor asked. “If heaven and hell are real, as soon as church services are over, everybody will rush to the homes of their family and friends and compel them to give their lives to Jesus. But people leave church and go to restaurants, they do nothing about the people that are heading to hell”, he said. His conclusion was that if hell is real people would behave differently. Who are the people in your life, the people you know are heading to hell or will die in their sickness if nothing happens [nothing changes]. If God is your destination, it will show in how you love God. It will show in your world view and the quality of decisions you make. It will show in how you relate to other people. God wants us to keep our focus clear and sharp because it helps us survive despite all the onslaught.

Keeping our home in heaven in focus helps us forbear, forgive, love, invite, compel, and persuade. Florence Chadwick was the first woman in history to swim the English Channel both ways, which is about thirty-four kilometers of the Pacific Ocean. After swimming for sixteen hours in the cold foggy waters with little or no visibility, she said she could not continue anymore. So, she climbed on the escort boat only to discover that she was just two kilometers away, she was really sad. A few years later, she decided to take on the challenge again. This time she finished and set a new record. Her interviewers wanted to know if she had felt the same way she felt on the first attempt. She said she felt the exact same way; her bones were giving up and her fingers were numb. But this time around, she kept the picture of the shore in focus and reminded herself that it was just two kilometers away.

David is also teaching us to keep the picture of our home in heaven before us so that we will not give up. You will have opportunities to give up and to back down. So, I urge you to stay focused on how much God loves you, allow goodness and mercy keep you going, until you see Jesus in glory. You will make it. Even though your circumstances are hard, you will discover that your God is good. You too will say, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Some of us need to recalibrate our world view, recalibrate our love for God, recalibrate how we relate to people. God wants you to reach out to people and not ignore people.

Prayer: Father, I pray that Your presence will be with me, Your goodness and mercy will keep me on track, and you will cause me to finish strong, in Jesus Name. Amen!