Troublesome Topic: CHOOSE WHAT TO MAKE BIGGER

Whatever you focus on will become bigger and bigger in your life. If you keep focusing on it, that thing will control you or consume you.

I know people who constantly invest mental and emotional energy in remembering the things that others have done against them, therefore they are consumed and controlled by anger and bitterness. Yet I know others who have suffered even worse ills at the hands of others and are not angry or bitter at all.

I know people who have been abused in some way as a child and cannot get past those ugly memories. They give those memories power by constantly returning to them. Yet I know others that have suffered similar abuses and are not controlled by them, in fact, they seem to have escaped undamaged by the abuse. Part of the difference (not all of it) is that some people choose to focus on other things, while some cannot stop focusing on their pain and their past.

I know several wives who have suffered for decades at the hands of a mean and abusive husband. Some of them are the most bitter people you will ever meet while others are the sweetest people you will ever meet.

Our society tells us that we are shaped by our surroundings. What’s more, we are told that to overcome painful situations from the past we need to delve into the painful memories.

What we are saying in this study series is that a better, more productive answer is to focus our attention on Jesus. Doing so will not change the past, but it will put all our pain and hardship into proper perspective. Those things will not control us any longer.

All of us have crises that come our way, the difference is made by our response to the crises of our lives.

What do we mean by focusing on Jesus? We mean that we need to dive into God’s word, enjoying much more time than usual in it; we need to saturate our minds with His truths about ourselves, about Himself and about life. We need to enjoy healthy amounts of time in prayer alone and with others.