A God Focus

Lately I have been challenged by God to really focus on the character and nature of God. To draw close to Him because of who He is, because of His faithfulness in spite of my unfaithfulness, because of His goodness in spite of my wickedness, and because of His mercy when I should receive His wrath. It's funny, the bible is a book about God, and yet so often in reading and interpreting it, we make the message about fallen man, about what we should and shouldn't do, about how we should live so that we can be moral people, about how to turn our lives around so that we can be successful. We end up focusing on the faith of sinful men, and look to be more like them.

The prosperity gospel is pervasive in society. Whether it's material gains we desire or societal acceptance, when we read the bible in order to better ourselves we are reading it for the wrong reason. Yes, we will be 'better' people for following God's commands. Yes, we will improve our understanding of truth and how the world works. Yes, we may even build relationship with God. However, the whole purpose of the bible is relationship with God. The book is designed to reveal His character. How can one have relationship with someone you don't know? To build relationship with God is to study scripture. This is where we discover the nature of the Holy God. And if you've ever heard it said we become like those we spend time with, you will understand that in spending time with God you will become like Him. It is impossible to make yourself holy, but in spending time with the Holy God, one has no option but to become more holy. It's the natural response to dwelling in His presence.

So it's not up to us to become willfully better. Self-improvement on our own terms will lead to improvement in one area with increased failure in another. It is up to us to pursue God, the natural consequence of which is a better self. But don't expect that better means easy. God does not call us to a life without suffering. In fact, God often uses suffering in the lives of His people to keep us focused on Him. Consider the life of Joseph: God took him away from his family, into the land of Egypt, where he was alone and imprisoned. There God taught Joseph to rely on Him and Him alone. It wasn't the easy life, but it was better for Joseph to be with God in exile than without God in the land of promise.

So the idea is this: stop focusing on improving yourself, working by your own strength to overcome bad habits or depression. It is of no use. It is absolutely futile. You do not have enough strength or enough will. There is a false sense of security in maintaining power over your life. We feel as if we are capable of keeping our head above water. The truth is, every breath we take is granted by God. We can do nothing apart from His allowing us to do so.

The point is to focus on God, love God, trust God, understand the nature of God! If you truly have your focus on Him, other things (like your value) will fall into perspective because you will begin to see yourself, and everyone around you, as God sees. God is the source of love. Without Him there is no love. So if we are looking to love others or even ourselves without His presence we will fail. It will just be a shadow of a thing. God is not a shadow, and He doesn't want you to be satisfied with that. He wants us to experience true love and it is only found in true relationship with Him. We find this when we focus on Him instead of ourselves.

There is a spirit of pride in seeking to improve oneself or become righteous. And often we are blind to its existence. It's an easy trap to fall into. I find that it's easier to grasp the brokenness of one's fallen state when you are continually looking into the face of Jesus. In His light all my sins are exposed. But He loves me anyway. In that relationship I can learn to love myself and others in the way that God loves. Not loving my own virtues (which are non-existent), but loving the sanctified child of God that He is working in me to create.