by Rose Murdock

We all like to see.  And not only do we like to see but we like to see clearly.  It’s frustrating not to be able to see clearly.  I have a camera that when you look through the window to take a picture it’s out of focus.  The dial to adjust the focus is broken.  The pictures come back clear but you can’t focus the camera to see clearly to take the picture.

Do you ever feel like your life is out of focus?  That you can’t clearly see where you’re going?  You might be able to see a few feet in front of you but beyond that your future is a blur.  If it’s severe enough, you might even have trouble locating where you are right now.

When our life is out of focus there is confusion.  Because we can’t clearly see where we’re going we’re not sure what our priorities are for today.  We are confused as to what we should be doing with our life.  I believe the Lord is calling His Church into a place of focus.  He doesn’t want us confused and misdirected.  He wants us to see clearly and know our priorities.

With our life out of focus, we don’t know how to react when something happens.  Things will startle us more because we don’t see them coming.  Even ‘small’ problems seem large because we can’t see them in relation to the big picture.  We might react in fear or impulsively.  We don’t know how much time and attention we should give to something because we can’t clearly see our priorities.

Why are we out of focus?  I think the first reason our life gets out of focus is when we look at ourselves too much.  Do you ever notice that when you spend a long time looking at something up close and then you look at something far away it’s blurry?  I think we get out of focus when we think everything revolves around us and we only see things from our perspective and viewpoint.  Our vision by itself without God’s vantage point is limited and cloudy.

But I also think that the first step to getting in focus is also to look at ourselves.  But we need to look at ourselves from the perspective of the Word of God.

The two things that keep our life in focus are the Word of God and the Spirit of God.  The Word of God is like the dial on the camera that adjusts the focus and the Spirit of God is what gives us the direction of what to take a picture of.  With both of them working together we can clearly see our life and as a result know what we should be giving our time and attention to today.

"For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." 1 Corinthians 13:12

First of all, we need to admit that we can’t see clearly on our own.  Our perspective of our life is not as clear as God’s.  He can see every aspect our life more clearly and accurately than we can.  If we want to see clearly and stay focused then we must admit our dependence on Him.  As long as we are in this earth and in this body, we’re not going to have the same vantage point He does.  And once we admit to that and accept it then we can begin the focusing process.  And to begin to focus we need His Word and His Spirit to direct us.  But we need to do more then just hear what He says.

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:22

The primary cause of being out of focus is when we are deceived.  This word deceive means to miscalculate and delude¹.  If we are not calculating ourselves correctly then we are not making an accurate estimation of ourselves.  If we are deluding ourselves then we are tricking ourselves into not being able to grasp proper judgment.  We are tricking ourselves into having an incorrect opinion of ourselves.  And we don’t even realize that our opinions of ourselves are wrong!  We’ve tricked our own selves and don’t even know it.  This is what happens when we don’t do what the Word of God says to do.

The Amplified Bible says it like this:

If we don’t put into practice the Word of God that we hear we always have an excuse for it.  But what we need to understand is that once we begin to make an excuse as to why we ‘can’t’ or won’t do what God says then our excuse becomes truth to us and we can no longer see the real truth.  Our eyes become blinded and we don’t even know it.  We begin to believe a lie and accept that lie as the truth.  The minute we rationalize as to why we can’t love our enemy, forgive our brother, pay our tithes or cast our cares on Him, is when we begin to believe a lie and we become blinded to the truth.

As a result of this the hopes, plans and purposes which the Word would have brought to our lives, are frustrated and paralyzed.  Then we wonder why our prayers are not answered.  You’ve got to stay in focus by looking at how the Word of God tells you to live and pattern your life after it.  We might overlook something that we think is not a big deal but it’s a big deal in the Word.  Some harsh word we said to someone, a critical attitude, or a bitter root in our heart.  We might blow it off as no big deal but it is a big deal.  It’s not doing what the Word says do and that is vitally important.

There have been times that the Lord has called one small sentence to my attention and addressed that to me.  I have read right over some seemingly ‘small’ things in the Word of God that He has brought me back to and said I needed to correct that in my life.  And some of the ‘one sentence’ instructions that the Lord has given to me have been some of the longest and hardest ones for me to do!  Don’t overlook anything the Word says or the Spirit of God says to you as being unimportant or minor.  Remember that He’s God and He has a perspective of your life that you don’t have.

If you want to see clearly and keep your life in focus then it’s absolutely necessary for you to be a doer of the Word.  Jesus told us that the Word is what will judge in the last day.

"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:48

If we don’t receive the Word of God today then that same Word will be our judge.  We will have to explain why we didn’t do what it says and there is no excuse of ours that can hold up to the truth is there?

Let me ask you this, suppose that you found yourself lost in the woods in the middle of the night.  You have no idea how to get out.  Someone comes by and gives you some night vision glasses and a compass and tells you that with these you can find your way out.  You tell them thank you but you put them in your backpack and don’t bother using them.  You have no idea which direction to go so you just start walking around and end up going in circles over and over.  You realize that’s not working so you try to climb a tree but it’s too dark to see anything.  Since that didn’t work you start digging a hole thinking maybe you’ll get out that way.  None of this is getting you anywhere.  This is what God has done for us, He’s given us His Word and His Spirit to lead and guide us but we’ve got to put them into practice.  If we don’t do what He says we’ll be stuck wandering in circles getting nowhere.

Please don’t take the Word of God lightly.  And don’t allow yourself to be distracted with other things causing you to get off track and out of focus.  Stay on the Word of God.  Stay with the Spirit of God.  Let Him clear your vision.  Let Him guide you into all truth.  Life is much better when we can enjoy the view.

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