This is the place to start - with Jesus Christ. This challenge to walk by faith, to please God, because without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) - must begin the Jesus Christ.
This life is filled with distractions that compete for my attention. Since 2003 I have been a single mom, raising three amazing children. I think you might agree that this task of parenting and proving alone without a husband is a best a challenge. Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining so that you'll feel sorry for me. These last eleven years have taught me that God is faithful. I write this with a smile on my face and joy in my heart. God has been so good to me and my children.
The distractions. They seem to be legit. Providing for my children has seemed to be an all consuming task. I'm in sales and, in my opinion, I'm good at it as long as I believe in the product. But after the divorce something changed in side. The pain and grief of the marriage and love that came to an end was brick wall distraction. It would have been easy to put my eyes on my pain or the seemingly insurmountable task of providing for my children.
The distractions. My children had their own emotions to deal with after their family fell apart. How could we do this to them? Whose side should they be on? There had to be someone right and someone wrong. They were angry at me and their dad. They were angry at the rest of the world for not understanding the pain that they were in. They acted out. Each one in a different way.
Distractions and reasons to lose faith, right? This is just my story. It's not unlike many other women and children. There are other stories. What's yours?
Here is what I can tell you about looking away from these distractions - not ignoring them in denial, but not allowing them to consume me - and instead, looking to Jesus as the source of my faith. I can tell you that we - my children and I - have successfully come through this hard time with the most amazing outcome.
During my darkest hours I reminded myself of all the times that Jesus had rescued me. I reminded myself that my oldest son, who almost died at birth because of a hole in his lung, was miraculously healed and came home from the hospital 8 days after he was born. This month my son who almost died will be 21 years old. I reminded myself of the many times that Jesus provided financial miracles to pay the rent, the utilities, buy food and clothes.
I made a conscious choice to take my eyes off of the distractions and put my the eyes of my inner person on the facts of how big and mighty the God that I serve - this God who promised "I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]" (Hebrews 13:5).
My life is not without distractions even now, but I see a beautiful outcome. My children are young adults. They are strong and kind because of all that they came through. They've learned compassion for others that are struggling. They've learned that God never left us. Whenever they face a challenge they come to me and ask me to agree with them in prayer. (Matthew 18:19–20)
". This study takes the student through all the books of the Bible to find references, symbols, and prophesies of Jesus Christ, our redeemer - The Author and Finisher of My Faith. What distractions are competing for your attention? What will you choose to do to cause you to "fix your attention" on Jesus Christ?
Walk by faith my dear friend. You will not be disappointed!
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30 Meditations on Jesus - eBook By Marilyn Hickey / Whitaker House |
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