Where to Focus Your Attention

Written by Ed Allen
Saturday, 20 March 1999 19:00

How To Experience God's Presence

Anybody here ever feel exhausted? I don?t mean just in need of a good night's sleep. I mean deep down exhausted. Bone tired. You want to lay down for a month and not wake up. Anybody ever feel that way?

According to the Bible, the principle enemies of God?s presence are worry, weariness, discouragement and guilt. We looked at the first of these last week when we talked about controlling your thought life. God tells us not to worry. Instead, you should choose to rejoice, choose to give thanks and choose to control what you think about.

Today we will look at God?s remedy for the second and third impediment to His presence. How do I battle discouragement and weariness? God?s answer may surprise you. God says that if you give Him your undivided attention your will not grow weary and discouraged. If you want to experience God?s presence, then you must give Him your undivided attention.

If you want to experience God?s presence, then you must give Him your undivided attention.

But how do I do that? I have so much on my mind, I have a hard time giving anything my undivided attention. How do I give it to God? According to the Bible, you must throw off, you must run, and you must focus.

LET US THROW OFF

What hinders

During the 80?s with the flashy Los Angeles Lakers headlining the NBA, warm-up suits became a serious fashion statement. People would pay very big dollars to buy a genuine Laker warm-up suit. But always when the Lakers played, they took off their warm-up suits before they took the floor. Because playing with long pants and jackets, while considerably fashionable would have been a hindrance.
What hinders you spiritually?
Maybe a relationship that does not build you up. Maybe a house or apartment. A car. Maybe even a hobby.
I once had a friend who sold a huge record collection and stereo. Did not believe rock n roll was wrong. Simply had become too much of a priority. It was stealing time from what was most important to him.
We have to constantly ask ourselves: "Is this building up and encouraging what is most important in my life? Is this nurturing my spirit, my family, my relationship with God? Is this helping me physically?" If not, then maybe it needs to go. Sometimes even good things can keep us from what is best.
In Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island, he tells of five men who escape a Civil War prison camp by hijacking a hot air balloon. As they rise into the air, they realize the wind is carrying them over the ocean. Watching their homeland disappear on the horizon, they wonder how much longer the balloon can stay aloft.
As the hours pass and the surface of the ocean draws closer, the men decide they must cast overboard some of the weight, for they had no way to heat the air in the balloon. Shoes, overcoats, and weapons are reluctantly discarded, and the uncomfortable aviators feel their balloon rise. But only temporarily. Soon they find themselves dangerously close to the waves again, so they toss their food. Better to be high and hungry than drown on a full belly! Unfortunately, this, too, is only a temporary solution, and the craft again threatens to lower the men into the sea. One man has an idea: they can tie the ropes that hold the passenger car and sit on those ropes. Then they can cut away the basket beneath them. As they sever the very thing they had been standing on, it drops into the ocean, and the balloon rises. Not a minute too soon, they spot land. Eager to stand on terra firma again, the five jump into the water and swim to the island. They live, spared because they were able to discern the difference between what really was needed and what was not. The "necessities" they once thought they couldn't live without were the very weights that almost cost them their lives.
Letting go of what hinders will enable us to give God our undivided attention. You must let go of what hinders if you want to experience the presence of God.
 
Entangling sin
 
Sin is the word the Bible uses to describe all those ways in which we seek our own way and try to control our own lives.

If we want to experience the presence of God in our lives we must let go of entangling sin.

If you look up this word "entangling" in the Greek dictionary you find this definition: "cleverly placing itself around in order to exert tight control." That?s what sin does. It cleverly wraps itself around me in order to exert tight control.

Like kudzo.

What sins entangle you?

What are the habits you hide from others or the attitudes you nurture that either give you the sense that you are in control or they disregard God?s control over your life. We tell ourselves, "everybody does it" or "just this time." Then little by little it entangles you and sucks the life out of you.
 

With perseverance

Olympic games date back to the 8^th Century in Ancient Greece. The games included wrestling, boxing, javelin throwing, discus throwing and jumping. But the principle event of the day was foot racing. Spectators would gather in large quantities along the full length of the Stadia ? a long track with a mound rising on either side. Athletes would begin at one end and race to the other. In some cases they would race out of the stadia, cover a considerable distance and return to the roar of the crowd.

This is exactly the image being portrayed for us in the Hebrews passage. A stadium full of people is cheering us as we run our race.

When I was in school I hated first day roll calls ? Hebrews give us a different kind of roll call as a lead in to the passage we just read.

But our race is not a sprint. Life is a long distance run and it must be run with perseverance. In the Bible?s exhortation to perseverance is an honest acknowledgment that life is sometimes tough. There are difficulties and obstacles to be overcome. There is sickness, weakness, inadequacies, missed opportunities, and unrealized dreams. We cannot avoid these. But we can handle them well or poorly. Our status as a "runner" will be largely determined by this one fact.

During part of the 1940?s Great Britain stood virtually alone and outgunned against the threat of Nazi Germany. They were able to maintain in large part because of the character and charisma of Winston Churchill. Somebody asked Churchill one time
"What most prepared you to lead Great Britain during WW II?"

Churchill responded, "It was the time I repeated a class in grade school."

The questioner said, "You mean you flunked a grade?"

Churchill answered, "I never flunked in my life. I was given a second opportunity to get it right."

If we would experience God?s presence, then when difficulty or opposition or trouble presents itself, we will see those as second opportunities to get it right. We will persevere.

What difficulty are you facing right now? Is it a physical challenge? Is it a financial challenge? Is it emotional? Is this a tough time in your marriage? At work? Are you being given a second opportunity? Pray that God will help you press through and make the most of it?
 


The race marked out
 

God has a wonderful plan for your life and mine.
  Imagine Abraham ? Moses ? David
  He has marked out our course. He intends to help us run it.

One author I read this week was critical of what he saw as ?resignation? in this passage. But this guy has mistaken trust for resignation. This is not Eeyor moaning, "Okay, God. Whatever you put before me, I guess I?ll do. Just help me slog through it." This is energetic, and forward-reaching trust "I?m gonna go for it, God. Show me where to run and I?ll run with all my might no matter what comes my way."

I asked a friend the other night what he thought this part of the verse meant: "the race marked out for you." He said, "Well, I used to run cross country in high school and every race I ever ran had been marked out for me by someone. If I wanted to have any chance of success, I needed to heed the markings." Then he added with a smile, " There is one big difference between those races and life though. I got to walk the cross country course first. In life we don?t get to do that."

Which brings us to the last point doesn?t it?

If we are going to experience God by giving Him our undivided attention, we must concentrate on Jesus. He has walked the course before us. He won the race. Let?s focus on Him.

On Jesus

Who are your role models?

Who are the people you put before yourself to emulate? Is it a sports hero? Is it one of those all-star mutual fund managers? Is it Bill Gates or Mark Andreesen? How about some famous author, or one of those movie stars with a perfect figure and perfect cheek bones?

For me, its tempting to have one of those guys with a flashy ministry be a role model? How did they get so successful? What gimmicks did they use?

But according to the Bible our concentration should be on Jesus. He is our role model.
 

Our faith-author and faith-perfector (the starter and finisher)

Here the author gives what amounts to a justification for placing our confidence in Jesus. He says, in effect, that the spiritual life that surges through us, Jesus started it and he will finish it.

"Consider him who endured such opposition at the hands of sinful men with the result that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

• Jesus is our example for perseverance.
• Jesus is our power source. He enables us to endure.

If you are going to experience the presence of God, then you must give Him your undivided attention. You must throw off everything that hinders and entangling sin. You must devote your best energies toward accomplishing God?s purposes. This will take great with perseverance. And you must concentrate on Jesus.

Diane focused on a clock when she gave birth to Jordan. She didn?t let anything break her concentration. It helped her get through successfully.