Day 2

When You Feel out of Focus

"Deep down inside, are you dissatisfied...or even miserable?"

Most of the world feels that way at one time or another- even those who seem to have everything that should make them happy. Unfortunately, this also includes many Christians.
Have you ever wondered why? Especially here on the North American continent where we life in the land of plenty. No nation has greater access to Christian literature and teaching and programming than we do. And currently, at least, no other body of Christians has as much religious freedom as do the Christians in North America.
Yet for all our freedom, for all our resources, we are hurting, miserable, and relatively impotent. We are ignorant of the "power which is in us."
As I sat meditating on the first week's study in Henry Blackaby and Claude King's Experiencing God, the statement "The focus needs to be on God, not life," caught my attention. Suddenly it all clicked into place: Misery comes when WE are the focus of our lives.
Reason with me for a moment.
Where is much of the emphasis in the world today? Isn't it on "self"? That is certainly the focus of our society, with self-esteem, self-fulfillment, self-actualization...but think about the emphasis in much of our Christian teaching, books, seminars, radio, and television. Isn't it also on Self?
And what is this focus accomplishing? Are the majority of Christians any happier? Any more productive? Walking in greater power? Are they being used of God to impact their society? Statistics tell us no!
However, when God becomes the focus, rather than self, then everything takes second place to His will for our lives. In essence, nothing else really matters. He is the only One whom we have to please. He is the only One whom we are truly and rightly answerable.
And we need not fear that such an attitude- the focus of pleasing God alone- will make us hard, unloving, or uncaring. If our center is God, then what He works out in our lives will reflect His character, His likeness.
When we are set free from the bondage of pleasing others (including self)- of currying others' favor and others' approval- then others (and self) will not be able to make us miserable or disatisfied, for only what pleases God will please us. 
If we know we have pleased God, then, like Paul and Silas, we can sing in the prisons of life, for we know our soverign God holds the key, and He can open the prison doors whenever He pleases! After all, He is God; He rules over all. God does as He pleases in heaven and on earth. Nothing can stay His hand, and no one can say to Him, "What have You done?" (Daniel 4;34-35). The will of God will never be thwarted.
The wonderful benefit of all this is that if you make the will of God your focus day by day, if you seek to please Him alone, then you'll find yourself satisfied with life. Misery will slip away like a whipped puppy with its tail between its legs. Life will take on purpose.
God will meet you right where you are- not demanding or expecting you to live by the standards of others or of the world, nor according to the talents and gifts of others. Rather, you will simply live by His power, which will work in you and lead you into the good works He ordained for you before the very foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:19, 3:20, 2:10).
The will of God for your life is simply that you submit yourself to Him each day and say, "Father, Your will for today is mine. Your pleasure for today is mine. Your work for today is mine. I trust you to be God. You lead me today and I will follow."
Take one day at a time. "Tomorrow will care for itself," for he is God over all your tomorrows (Matthew 6:34). Therefore, you can "commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it" (Psalm 37:5).

Gracious and holy Father, give me wisdom to percieve You; intelligence to fathom You; patience to wait for You; eyes to behold You; a heart to meditate upon You; and a life to proclaim You, through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

(Arnold, 2002, pp. 16-18)

This reading was perfect for today. So often I find myself struggling to meet everyone else's expectations of who and what I should be. And yes, I find myself miserable and unhappy because so often I can not meet those expectations fully. I feel as though I failed them (or myself). And if they make awareness of this failure, I feel worthless and somewhat depressed. All because I can not live up to someone else's expectations!
This is something I need to do daily. To constantly give over any expectations to God and follow His lead rather than worry about everything else in life. On top of that it is not going to make me into someone I'm trying to avoid becoming (such as cold-hearted or mean). Instead I can probably avoid those becomings better by following God and His desire for my life rather than pleasing anyone else (including myself)!