Shifting Our Focus

It’s a strange concept to feel the love of God more powerful than ever in the middle of a tragedy.

It’s natural to look at trials and grow angry.

When I look at pictures of Eleanor, this beautiful perfect creation God designed, I question why He took something so perfect from us. Why didn’t He save her? It wouldn’t have taken much effort on His part.

This mentality is something we can so easily fall into.

Of looking at what we can receive from God, rather than how we can give Him glory.

We sing in church on Sunday mornings about how He’s a good, good father. We read in the bible about how He will never abandon us nor forsake us. We hear real life testimonies of Him preforming miracles in other people’s lives.

Yet there comes a moment where we’re standing face to face with the realization that that same God didn’t show up for our own miracle

And it leaves us questioning, why?

That’s really hard to make sense of logically.

But we must remember that we don’t serve a God of logic.

If God could logically be understood, there wouldn’t be any reason for us to have faith.

Faith was Eleanor’s middle name. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Many Christians have forgotten the purpose of following the life of Jesus.

It’s not about what Jesus does FOR us, it’s what He does IN us.

I’m not still standing because I’m strong. Trust me, I’ve never felt weaker.

I’m still standing because of the shifts that have happened in my heart through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I’m still standing because of the millions of tears I’ve let fall and surrendered to Him.

I’m still standing because when I had no we’re else to turn, I focused my sight on eternity.

The Christian walk isn’t about what you receive, it’s about what you can give. It’s about serving others, loving on others, and drawing more people to the One who created us all.

Sometimes, the mission that was birthed out of this tragedy doesn’t seem fair. I still struggle wondering why I have to be the one to carry this burden.

I don’t know why God allowed this to happen. But I do know that must mean He saw something greater than what we can currently see.

He sees the full story while we live out only a chapter at a time.

While we are in the midst of the storm, He sees the day the sun will shine again and the clouds will disappear.

It is in the middle of the storm that we will experience Him like never before.

Acts 20:24 tells us exactly what to focus on in the middle of our storms. It reads, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

We must not lose ourselves trying to find the logic behind our trials or heartbreak.

Our focus is set on finishing the race. On completing the task that Christ himself gave to us.

You are not here to focus on why it was given, you are here to focus on how to carry it out well.

Instead of staying stuck on the question, "why would God allow this," we must shift our focus to the question, "how can we navigate this well?"

This is how we transform our pain into our purpose.

Instead of dwelling on why hardships happen, we change our perspective to, "how can we use this experience to bring hope and healing to others?"

How can we use our hardship to grow spiritually deeper?

How can we use our pain to grow emotionally stronger?

How can we use our challenges to grow us mentally healthier?

We can learn how to turn adversity into a force for good in our lives and in the lives of others.