Have you ever started a project, perhaps home remodel, outdoor remodels, or a project in general that you can not seem to get finished. You started cleaning that garage out and all you seemed to really do is move stuff around, but you can not seem to get it finished? Maybe you are in a ministry and the love and joy of that ministry is fading. What happens to us? We start out and somewhere we fizzle.
11 Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion, according to what you have. 1 Corinthians 8:11
I will be completely honest, I am a master at starting project, mainly “crafty” projects and never finishing them. I still have yet to finish the kid’s projects that I was supposed to give to them this last Christmas. Optimism abounds but then reality hits. What seemed fun at first turned into work. Discouragement sets in and perfectionist tendencies stifle the completion. I give up. Do you know what I am talking about?
What about in our spiritual lives? How is that reading the Bible in a year coming along? What about to commitments you made back on January 1st? I confess I have stalled my bible in one year only for the purpose of sinking into studying Philippians. I’m still in God’s Word, just took a road trip to the side for a minute. How do we have all this thunder and gumption in January and here it is middle of June and no umph?
How do we finish what we started with an even greater energy than when we started?
I believe there are three things that cause us to give up: lack of focus, frustration or exhaustion, and discipline. Today, let us look at what our focus is.
lack of focus
We lack the necessary focus to keep our eye on finishing what we have started. There is often so much I want to do and my thoughts are so scattered that I do not even know where to begin. Often my to-do lists are so long and the expectations so high I get discouraged and quit. What focus do we need?
Focused Perspective
2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
Some translations use the word “fixing” our eyes on Jesus. It is the idea that we wear blinders so that there is nothing to distract us from the sides as we focus, or fix, our gaze on Jesus. It is hard to keep our focus on Jesus with all our daily struggles. Add to it the mix of family stress, work stress, stress of responsibilities, and we place it upon ourselves to solve our own issues. We question our own ability and ourselves when we do not have answers to questions. We feel like we are failures to God and our families.
God never intended us to carry all these burdens. IN our weakness, he is our strength!
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
We can be confident to rely on Him in any given situation and know he is working all things together for our good! When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we rest our perspective on God’s greater plan. Our daily struggles loose power when we know the ultimate goal. We will one day join Christ in our heavenly home!
Fix your eyes on our Savior! He will perfect our faith and our perspective reaches beyond this world!
Focus of our Heart and Prayer
14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
I am very well known for getting quiet when something happens and I do not know how to respond. Even more so now, than I had been in the past. My silence is an irritation to those who want an immediate answers. In my past I did not know really how to respond, but now, I like to take time to respond. Let my heart be moved through prayer and meditation on how to respond. The truth, I just need time to process the situation, especially situations that leave me dumbfounded.
We invite many things into our heart for many reasons. Mary, invite the Word of God into her heart and kept them there and pondered them (Luke 2:19). We like to keep and cherish all the good moments of our lives, but when times come that bring tears, hurt, and suffering we need the time to process them. We need time to grieve. We need time to sit and ponder prayerfully and mediate upon what God’s Word says concerning these times.
We need to be careful what we do invite into our hearts. Processing is wonderful, but we can not let discouragement and frustration take up residence. We all are smart people. We know what we need to do with those things, but sometimes we start to hold on to them, and from this our heart speaks. We start complaining. We start letting this discouragement and frustration take over our minds and attitudes.
What we treasure, we store up in our heart. This is why our thoughts and meditations need to be focused on what pleases the Lord. When we keep Jesus at the center of our heart, make him the treasure, peace and gratitude take up residence.
15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15
If we are meditating on precious moments or heartbreaking situations, pray the words of Psalm 19:14 to help keep the heart filled with the good things of God.
Focus of our Mind
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2
There is no battle like the battle of the check outline and a toddler. All those shiny little toys, candies, and snacks. They know what they are doing when they put all that stuff there. They appeal to the impulsive buying. I feel like that toddler some days. I see advertisements for quick fixes and cures. The lure of temptation in my flesh to do something to quiet the suffering and the pain inside me.
It is like it all says here, take this advil, it will stop the pain. Buy this kitchen gadget and you will feel purpose and important. Look at this brand new Chevy truck, will get you noticed by all the chicks. That new hunting gear will gain you the respect of your friends. But what these things do not do, is tell you, oh, by the way, this is only temporary, but wait until you see the next biggest as seen on TV item I have for you! All the while we are in the midst of the temptations we face, there is a quiet voice that is saying, I love you. You do not need these things because I am all you need. You mean everything to me. You are precious. You have purpose.
Our minds are constant back and forth battle.
18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18
All of these worldly things are temptations because we stopped focusing on the things above and took our eyes off Jesus. We start to only see what is around us. We forget that who is in us gives us EVERYTHING we need. These things are temporary. When we keep our eyes on what is eternal, we can snap back to reality of what is actually most important as we go through our days.
Focus of Hope
7 As my life was fading away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
to your holy temple.
Jonah 2:7
Jonah’s prayer while spending a few days on a blubber mattress can inspire us and renew our hope in the Lord. What is going on in our daily lives, the world around us, can lead us into some pretty desperate and despairing times. In the prisons of our hardened hearts, the walls around us, the darkness we walk in can lead us to become hopeless.
Jonah’s prayer tells us, that even within your own whale, there is hope.
2 I called to the Lord in my distress,
and he answered me.
I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol;
you heard my voice.
3 When you threw me into the depths,
into the heart of the seas,
the current overcame me.
All your breakers and your billows swept over me.
4 And I said, “I have been banished
from your sight,
yet I will look once more
toward your holy temple.”
5 The water engulfed me up to the neck;
the watery depths overcame me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 I sank to the foundations of the mountains,
the earth’s gates shut behind me forever!
Then you raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God!
7 As my life was fading away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
to your holy temple.
8 Those who cherish worthless idols
abandon their faithful love,
9 but as for me, I will sacrifice to you
with a voice of thanksgiving.
I will fulfill what I have vowed.
Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Jonah 2:1-9
When Jonah called upon the Lord, gave him the praise and worship and thanksgiving, confessed himself, the Lord then commanded the whale to spit him out. His prayer inspires us to a new hope. DO you feel like hope is slipping away? DO you wonder if your effort is even worth is?
Jesus Christ is hope and with Him is the power to never give up.
Focus on the Purpose
13 You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
When I lose my focus, I feel like God is as far away as another galaxy. I can not hear Him or sense His presence. Keeping a constant attitude of prayer in thanksgiving and worship keeps Godly blinders on our eyes. These blinder protect our purpose, our commitment, the job at hand, and keeps the distractions of the world out.
We are not forced to wear blinders, so how do we keep them on? Taking them off is an obvious dumb idea. Just as this verse says in Jeremiah. When we have lost our focus, when God does not feel close, we can not hear Him, or sense His presence, we need to seek Him. Not a casual seeking. But with our whole heart seek Him out.
When Jeremiah wrote this letter, he was writing to a people that were scattered about from the great exile. God was encouraging them and us that when you seek Him with all your heart, he promises to refocus us back on our purpose.
We have such a great purpose in our everyday life. From washing dishes, to kids arguing in the other room, meetings at work, and things that pull us in different direction. God has purpose in us in all these things. God promises us, that what he starts in us he will finish. He will fulfill the purpose of us and we can count on God and trust . His every step.
We need to train our heart, mind, and spirit to focus on the goodness and promises of our Heavenly Father to ensure we leave survival mode behind and walk in His victory. Our eyes need fixed upon Jesus. Our hearts need to wholeheartedly seek Him. OUr hope needs to be set upon Him. As we move forward with purpose, we can be refreshed and refocused by put all our focus on Him.
11 Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion, according to what you have. 1 Corinthians 8:11
It Starts Small 
Leave a comment