PASTOR’S CORNER: Stay focused on Jesus

If there ever was a time to keep our focus, that time is now. We are living in dangerous times, and we need to keep our eyes straight ahead. Driving down a two-lane highway, we cannot afford to look away and cross the center line; doing so could end in tragedy. Driving around steep mountain curves — and we’ve all driven them — with no rail on the side of the road, one mistake could cost us our lives.

It is imperative that we stay focused so we don’t get distracted. I clearly understand why the law says we should not text and drive. It only takes a second for something bad to happen. I’ve heard of people texting while driving and running into the back of another car. It happened recently. I know a pastor friend who was rear-ended by a driver she said could not have been looking when, at a high rate of speed, he rammed into her car.

Personally, I don’t text while driving for that very reason. One night while driving home, I approached a person walking along the road wearing dark clothing. If I had been distracted with my phone for even a second, I would have hit that man. Driving on the public highway is dangerous enough; it is important that we stay alert.

Many people have been derailed from careers, higher education, marriages, relationships and fellowship with our Lord and Savior because they lost their focus. Lose your focus, and you lose sight of your goal.

When our children are born, we have a vision for them. We plan for them to grow up, go to the prom, graduate high school, go to college, get married and become something great. Some of us even establish college funds at birth to make sure we can send them to school. We stay focused, hoping they will too. But some get off track, lose focus and lose their footing, and now they are singing a sad song.

Men and women entering marriage also have a focus when they make their vows: to be faithful to one another, to love, honor and cherish each other. With the exchange of rings, they vow to do this until death parts them. It sounds good standing at the altar or before a judge. And if they stay focused, they can indeed live happily ever after.

Perhaps someone reading this today can testify that the only reason you have what you have — the job you earned and the money you make — is because you stayed focused. You didn’t follow the crowd. You didn’t listen to someone trying to influence you in the wrong direction. You didn’t lose sight of your goal. Temptation came, and Satan made the grass look greener on the other side, but you made the conscious choice to keep your eyes on the goal. The only way any of us will accomplish anything in life is to stay focused. Lose your focus, and your dream can become a nightmare.

Community, when we serve the Lord, we have everything we need. We have Jehovah Yireh — the Lord our provider. We have Jehovah Rophi — the Lord our healer. We have Jehovah Shalom — the Lord our peace. What else do we need? His résumé speaks for itself. He has a proven record of defending, protecting, fighting for and providing for His people. He has gone before us to hold back the hand of the enemy, and He has stood behind us as a protecting angel. As long as we stay focused on Him, we won’t lose our footing. We should let nothing and no one cause us to lose sight of that, because if we are not careful, things, people, circumstances and trials can cause us to take our eyes off the King.

Remember Peter, who stepped out of the boat and walked on water to go to Jesus? He did the impossible. Other than Jesus Himself, no one before or after has done that. His faith and focus on Jesus lifted him beyond the natural. In the presence of the great “I AM,” he did not fear and he did not sink — as long as he stayed focused. But we all know what happened: he lost focus, and he lost his footing. He sank (Matthew 14:22–30).

Friends, stay focused. Keep your eyes on Jesus. We are living in troubling times. Winds are blowing around us and waves are beating against us, but as the songwriter said, “I trust in God, my Savior, the One who will never fail — He will never fail. I sought the Lord, and He heard and He answered. That’s why I trust Him. That’s why I trust Him.”

We were just in the middle of a national government shutdown, where some politicians put politics over the American people. Folks were suffering. Some were panicking; others were simply concerned. Community, in moments like these, our faith and trust are revealed.

The Bible says we are to “run our race with patience, keeping our focus on Jesus” — not on Democrats or Republicans — but on Jesus, who completed His race (Hebrews 12:1–2).

Jesus stayed focused for us. We ought to stay focused on Him. We’re going to make it, saints, as long as we keep our focus on Jesus.