JUST WHEN THE FOCUS CHANGED: Four Reasons Why Many Start Well, Only To Have A Poor Ending.
Have
you ever observed athletes while they are running on the field? if so, you
will notice that they never run out their tracks, and most importantly, they
don’t look to their sides, neither do they look back.
That is, their
focus is the common destination which lies ahead of them; and at the
destination lies the price in which they are competing for.
To simply put it,
their focus is always on the price or goal. Looking back or elsewhere or
getting out of their track means the price
(goal) is not actually worth what competing for.
That
is just the very picture that comes trooping in my mind as I was ruminating on
why Peter have to sink, even when he was already walking upon the billowing sea
that embattles him and the other Apostles.
And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.Matthew 14: 22-32
He
walking upon the sea connotes having victory over the situation; likely, we can
say he has also been given authority and power to overcome that great
predicament that befalls them.
You
will recall the appearance of the saviour, and the influence that the saviour’s
voice wrought in their life when he said “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid,”
and His appearance to them (even though he was almost mistaken to be a
ghost: “for the appearance of a man walking upon the sea to them seems so unusual
and it does goes beyond natural”) pacified their fears and peter took the very
first step, the second, the third etc. on the sea at the call of the masters
voice.
You
will noticed that, Peter's fears and that of other has gone, but we see Peter
becoming fearful again even when he has taken few more steps towards the
Master. The question is WHY?
Noteworthy: Overcoming any challenge or achieving any set goal requires taking in good and utmost faith the very first step with less concern as to whether it will lead to success or otherwise. And that’s exactly what Peter did, without fear, and with good faith takes he the very first step, the same which leads to having victory over the storm, though for a little while.
Peter started well though for a little
while till he began to sink: The same goes to many
people these days entirely. I was made to understand (while studying) that many
just like Peter, through God had been given authority, power, boldness
(courage) to overcome every circumstances that raised up its head against them
in the journey of achieving purpose (a set goal or price).
But later on tends
to fail even after they have started strong and in utmost faith i.e. many
people tends to start well and strong, but the end is not always something to
write home about.
The
truth is, it is not in the wish of anyone to be a failure even after starting
well. It is not in the wish of anybody to face a challenge that may never be
overcome.
It is not in the wish of anybody to sink deep into the ocean of impossibilities
or disappointment even when the scripture says everything is possible to all
that believes.
For
this very purpose this short booklet is centered upon examining four out of
numerous reasons why people tends to fail even when they have started well
using the case of Peter as a background study; with the pictures of way of
those things that curses failure in the journey of life.
JUST WHEN THE FOCUS CHANGED: Why many started well on to fail again.
“When
He saw the wind boisterous”
Back to the question:
why would someone who has started well even without any iota of doubt of fear
suddenly end up being fearful and sinking in the ocean of life
(impossibilities)?
In
answering this question we shall look into what happened to Peter:
Me:
Why did Peter eventually begin to sink?
Anonymous:
Because he was afraid.
Me:
Yes (he was afraid): But why was he afraid?
Anonymous:
The wind came up again and he saw it.
Me:
But the wind was there
while he was walking on it, why did he saw it again.
Anonymous:
Maybe
because he wasn’t looking at Jesus again…
Me:
Yes, there it is; He simply lost focus. What else?
Anonymous:
Fear
and doubt crept in as to whether he would make it up to Jesus.
Me:
Great,
there it is again: Thanks
And that’s where the problem comes from.
1. He simply lose focus: He
is no longer looking at (Jesus again) the goal or the price. When he no longer
see Jesus, he began to see something else; the wind that was not real became
suddenly real to him.
See
this: “When he saw the wind boisterous”… You will notice
the word “When he saw”: not that
while he was walking on the sea, the wind has been pacified, but because the
power of God that is made available and his utmost faith makes him to be
blinded to the boisterousness of the wind, hence, he walked on it.
See
this: Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith;…”
He
saw the wind boisterous; because, he no longer loot at Jesus Christ who was his
goal. He simply looks elsewhere.
Looking
elsewhere connotes: Jesus eye is no longer radiant; His saving grace is not
worth relying on again. The truth is, when the focus of a man changes, every
other things also changes.
See this: Psalms 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my
right hand, I shall not be moved.
That
is just one big reason why many people get it wrong eventually; they no longer
look at the price, the goal is no longer radiant. As a result of looking
elsewhere of finding other means, they tends to see something else that is much
more radiant and beautiful to behold of which the end therein is disaster.
This
is a challenge to us never to lose the sight of Jesus Christ; for in Him lays
our strength, and through Him do we have victory over every challenge that is
beyond our capabilities.
Having
this knowledge of the fact that Peter’s focused that got changed leads to other
things happening: remember; “when a man lose the sight of Jesus Christ, he will
begin to see something else:. This will now lead us to understanding other
reasons.
2. The moment He saw the wind:
Doubt and Fears crept in.
But
when he saw the wind boisterous, “He was afraid…”
“O
thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”…
You
will agree with me that; the faith that walks upon a billowing sea wasn’t that
little, but it became so little because fear and doubt has been entertained at
the sudden appearance of the wind before him.
Doubt
here means: thinking or saying that that which has become successful (possible)
cannot be again, or will not goes on to be, even to the very end.
Trust
me, many a people continue to struggle and struggle with the challenges/
battles of life for this one reason out of many, which is that they have
allowed the devil to toil with their mind by embracing the thoughts of fear,
impossibilities, and defeats etc. that he speaks to them.
You
know like: Will I ever make it, it’s not possible, I’m not up to the task, you
don’t have the power and capacity to… and many other fear-like thoughts that
hinders progress in life.
Fear,
as you can see are False Evidences that Appears to be Real. It takes away
courage, boldness, power, sound mind, confidence, braveness out of a man and
put in cowardice, weakness, fearfulness, faintheartedness, defeats, etc. These
being the factors that hinders victory in the life of a man.
I
have written extensively on fear and faith under this topic: “Choose your battle ground”: Fears and Faith are two opposing grounds upon which the choice
we make between them will guarantee victory or not.
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3. Loosing Focus, or looking
elsewhere also connotes: Jesus Lead is no longer valid or helpful;
it means looking elsewhere will do.
Meanwhile,
when God leads us, (His Children); the children the father leads ask not where
they go or look elsewhere; they simply follow the path, and the leading of
Christ (the price).
And
that is just the truth about many people, the moment we lose the sight of
whatever we are pursuing, the goal do become invisible and unattainable many a
times.
Proverbs
3:5-8
Trust
in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In
all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be
wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. It will be
healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.
The
scripture encourages us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and with
everything we’ve got. For; he will go before us, and make every crooked places
straight, He will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the
bars of iron, and He will give us the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches
of secrete places, that we may know that He, the Lord, which called us by name,
is the God of Israel.
Take Abraham For A Case
The
scriptures reported of Abraham: That God called him out of his father’s house
to a land which is in obscurity to him. He never knows whether the land is a
land full of great treasure and riches, or otherwise.
But
the scripture relates that Abraham never gave the call of God a chance to think
about it. For to think about it is to give room to doubting the faithfulness of
God. Instead he stepped out with optimum faith in the saving power and
faithfulness of God.
For this great faith he has in God; it was credited to him
as; righteousness, the friend of God, and many miraculous deeds, that God
wrought in and through him.
The
same is applicable to us today: for if we can trust, believe, hope and rely on
the saving power of God, the mountains before us shall be moved, God will fight
our battles, life becomes easy and victorious living will be ours.
“Psalms
121: 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
4. The
Evils of Self-confidence and Self-trust
When
we look up to Jesus, when he bids us to come, when he has given us the path to
trod, we don’t look elsewhere, we don’t go elsewhere, for in Him alone lies our
strength, power, and authority in achieving or overcoming of every challenges.
It
can be rightly said that looking elsewhere connotes having confidence and trust
in something else. It can also be said to mean having confidence in self,
rather than in God.
Eliminating The Weed Of
Self-Confidence, Putting Our Total Trust In God
When in His mercy God leads a soul in the higher paths of sanctification, He begins by scrapping it of all self-confidence and to this end He allows our own schemes to fail, our judgment to mislead us. We grope and totter and make countless mistakes until we learn to mistrust ourselves and to put all our confidence in Him. Jean Nicholas Gruel.
The
truth undeniably is that, self-confidence is good. It pays to be bold, strong
and confident: for without confidence; fears will stripe us of many benefits. However,
one thing is been self-confident another is being God-confident.
Take
a look at some of the saints of old; many of them walked in the highway of
victorious living; fought and conquers many battles not because they have the
power or might, but because they simply put their trust and total confidence in
God.
Moses
for instance says: “…And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not
up hence.” Exodus 33:19.
David
says: Psalms 16: 8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my
right hand, I shall not be moved.
“Woe
to any man that put his trust in mere flesh”.
Not until we come to the end of our self-life variants such as self-pride, self-will, self-sufficiency, self-trust and most importantly the weed of self-confidence, and our holy hands raised to God as a sign of helplessness on our path, and our kneels bowed down before His Grace and become God-confident (putting our total trust in God), our so much anticipated victories over battles and challenges of life may be short and forthcoming. ~Agboola Oluwafemi~
SEE
THIS:
Trust
in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In
all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in
thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. Proverbs 3:5-7.
Getting
rid of self-life confidence/pride/trusts requires; we recognizing with deep and
devoted reference the effectual working of the power of God in us.
Humbly
submitting and subjecting our total will to God, putting God first in
everything, and becoming obedient to the will and the leading of the Holy
Spirit.
Conclusively;
when we humbly trust, let go of our self-life pride, and eventually lay on God
our total confidence, then “God gives us more grace” James 4:6
for breakthrough in everything we do.
We
shouldn’t allow our focus to change, for when this happens; something else
comes into play – fears, doubt, and defeat eventually.
Keep
on looking up to Jesus, He will see you through.
Grace
to you.
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