For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed ~ Isaiah 50:7.
Introduction:
Focus is very important in anything you do. It is a major key to progress, and a quintessential elevator to higher performances in life. Those who focus on what they want to achieve, prosper; those that don't, struggle all through life.
Lack of focus is the main problem that stalls many people in their journeys in life. Those who have lost focus rarely arrive at their desired destinations. If they ever do, it won’t be on time and it’s most unlikely that they will arrive in top shape because they would have expended so much energy and resources on managing distractions.
Once your goals in life are well defined and your perspectives are right, being focused is the next priority thing you must do to become unstoppable. Hence, the world's most successful people take the subject of focus seriously (Joshua 24:14-15).
Nevertheless, there are many things the devil easily flings to occasion distractions, and make people lose focus. Two of his most subtle implements of distractions are mockery and discouragement, which may sometimes come from close friends and acquaintances.
Whenever insults and mockery come, ignore them and channel your energy towards more profitable ventures (Isaiah 51:7). Winston Churchill said: “You will never reach your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks”.
Oftentimes, when a man is on a destiny-transforming journey, or an organization is engaged in projects that could produce major breakthroughs, the enemy strikes with subtle distractions through naysayers who could skillfully trade in unkind words and discouragement.
When the Jews wanted to rebuild the broken wall of Jerusalem, Sanballat, Tobiah, with the support of the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites emerged to distract them from the noble task by making jest of them.
Fortunately, Nehemiah, their leader refused to give attention to those mockers. He rather took the matter to God in prayers, and made the people focus on the task before them, and the wall was built (Nehemiah 4:1-23).
If you can only keep yourself busy with your assignments, the distractions won't even get to you, let alone get you down. Remember Paul (Philippians 3:12-14).
Harnessing the Incredible Power of Focus
There are many common pressures that every working-class believer faces: time pressure, financial pressure, work-life balance, etcetera. However, it generally takes grace, plus maturity and a good grasp of royal ideas to master and scale over them.
Firstly, those who are looking forward to developing excellence in their lives and in their walks with God must intentionally promote and adopt godly habits as a lifestyle.
Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do”. Your habits today determine the quality of your future. You must choose to eliminate bad habits and replace them with godly ones. Yes, this may take some time, but building goodly habits is ever crucial to an excellent life.
Secondly, the types of relationship that surround you matter. Positive relationships can have upward spiral effects, effusing success; while toxic relationships are spiritually, mentally and emotionally draining. Please, choose your friends carefully.
Thirdly, being intentional in your day-to-day actions is important in helping you achieve your life’s goals. Procrastination is usually a symptom of loss of enthusiasm, faith, courage, energy, confidence or passion. It is also an unmistakable label of laziness.
Be decisively focused on what matters to your destiny now and hereafter. “Tomorrow” is the name of the road that leads to the city called “Never”. Undoubtedly, procrastination is a stealthy enemy of destiny.
Give serious attention to your heavenly calling. Develop and deploy your natural endowments and capabilities. Cultivate and invest your energy and corporate strength, wisely.
Most importantly, focus on Jesus Christ, and insist on leading a balanced Christian life, habitually. Focus on Him without ignoring other areas of spiritual importance, like your family life and your career.
Stop running helter-skelter, or looking hither and thither, if you don’t want to be overwhelmed with human disappointments. The face of God is the sure cure of shame (Psalms 34:5). When you seek God’s face, His Hand will deliver you.
He fed three million people for forty years in the wilderness without any hitch. Certainly, you can’t have any debilitating need when you look up unto Jesus Christ, the Owner of all things (Hebrews 12:2).
Focusing for Decisive Victory
You are a victor and not a victim! No matter what you have been through, you're still here on the platform of victory. You may have been challenged, hurt, beaten and betrayed, but nothing has defeated you. Your victory is ever secured in Christ Jesus!
However, once you lose your spiritual sight, you cannot follow Jesus Christ on His pathway of blessings and victory (Mark 10:52). That’s why Satan wages a continuous battle against focus, and sets to vengefully attack the believers, particularly at decisive moments in their lives.
Immediately Saul became King, Nahash thought it was the best time to attack Israel, setting a very ridiculous condition for peace: “Your right eyes or else!” (1 Samuel 11:1-11).
Why the right eyes? Surrendering the “right eye” is a dreadful recipe for defeat and servitude. In those days, warriors used their right eyes for military advantages: to accurately sight the enemy without getting too close, aiming and shooting without missing. So, Nahash wanted them to surrender the right eyes so as to make them helpless against his naked aggression.
In today’s world, the enemy still constantly looks for the "right eyes" of people to pluck out, spiritually speaking, so they won’t be able to discern it when he launches his wicked attacks against them from the pit of hell, nor even sense the gracious move of God around them (Job 9:11)!
Believers should be sensitive concerning things of the Spirit, and be prepared to strike accurately against the hordes of darkness (Joshua 22:31; 2Kings 4:9). However, once a believer loses his focus, his vision becomes blurred, fuzzy, meaningless and downright confusing.
The serious consequences of this is that he cannot “see” the enemy diverting his blessings into satanic warehouses, while he is left wondering why so many of God’s promises are not being fulfilled in his life (Proverbs 29:18).
Friends and brethren, whenever you notice you’re no longer sensitive to what’s going on in the spirit realm, immediately declare a spiritual state of emergency, and rise up at once in prayers to disrupt, disappoint and dismantle the plans of the enemy (Job 5:12).
Let’s heed this red alert! The new faces of the invisible satanic aggressors today are ignorance, lukewarmness, lassitude, self-deceit, nonchalance, casual sin, prayerlessness, disloyalty, disobedience, pleasure seeking tendencies etc.
Dismantle them in your life outrightly! The “walls” of your defense will become strong again and, sooner than later, you will begin to reap the rewards of success, and enjoy evergreen victories without sapping your health and happiness. You won’t miss these, in Jesus name. Amen. Happy Sunday!
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Bishop Taiwo Akinola,
Rhema Christian Church,
Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
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