Where is my focus?

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellent and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." -Philippians 4:4-9

Key verse: v8. "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things" 

During a period time in my life (Junior year in college to be exact), I felt everything was going wrong. I became very depressed and often times felt absolute hopeless. God, and God's love for me seemed far away, sometimes even absent. I felt empty. When I shared my situation with my colleagues in faith, one friend gave me some advice.(Thanks Agey) She challenged me to write down every one of God's blessings I experienced day after day, even the simplest ones. It was such a challenge, but I forced myself to think of God's love for me, to see the things around me and the people He put in my life and realize THIS and only THIS is HIS LOVE for me! So who am I to be loved? Who was I to question God's love? The very love that laid His life for mines because of MY wrong and MY sins. I pondered so much as to why it was such a challenge to see God's blessings and HIS grace and love in my life throughout. So I went back to what my friend told me to do and to not overthink it this time. This time, I cleared my mind and said the simplest prayer I remember ever praying. "God, I'm sorry." My conscious cleared and 'twas amazing how then and there, God works in the midst of the storm! Every night I tried to think of three blessings God had given me that day. This discipline helped me tremendously. I found that God's blessings were gloriously abundant in my life! Like, literally! Like I mentioned before, it was around me daily, the people, the places, the events even small things, God was there with me! I had not recognized their presence because I was focusing only on my problems.

This experience of counting God's blessings has helped me to know that I can find joy even during difficult times. We can choose to focus on God and God's blessings instead of only on our problems. Just like what Paul writes, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS" and be grateful. Be appreciative. Be thankful. My thought for today: Instead of my problems, I will focus on God today! I pray that our loving God, in the midst of our struggles, He helps us to keep our focus on Him and His eternal love for us, in Jesus name...AMEN!!


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