subject: Change Your Focus, Change Your World [print this page] Change Your Focus, Change Your World Change Your Focus, Change Your World
Bruce Wilkinson says that the evidence shows only about 5% of people have a vision for what they are to do with their life. The other 95% had their vision criticized and so they gave it up.
He suggests that to gain some perspective on what is holding you back, project yourself 500 years into the future and see things from that point of view. Perhaps some of the challenges that look so daunting in the moment will grow strangely dim.
A few years ago there was a study done in Kansas along I-70. Researchers found that when the road was iced over people would hit telephone poles 60% of the time, the very thing they feared doing. This in spite of the fact that the poles are fifty yards apart, making the likelihood of hitting them miniscule.
However, the studies revealed that when drivers hit ice and began to panic they focused so much on not hitting the poles that they unconsciously steered into them. The lesson to learn from this is that it is often our hidden fears that drive us because they control so much of our attention.
Author Robert McGee said, "If Satan had a formula for self-worth he would love you to buy into, it would be Self-Worth=Performance +the opinion of others." Indeed, untold numbers of people have walked away from their dreams for fear of being criticized or rejected.
In the book of Genesis we read, "Terah took his son Abramand together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there" (Genesis 11:31).
For unknown reasons, Terah began a journey to the Promised Land but stopped along the way and remained in Haran. Years later the Lord called Terah's son Abram to complete the journey, which he did.
What happened to Terah's dream? We simply do not know, it died somewhere in Haran. But the lesson to learn is that no matter where you find yourself today, no matter how long you have put off your calling you can begin this very moment making your way out of Haran where maybe you have settled too long.
And when the challenges seem largest and you find yourself sliding out of control on the ice, rather than focus on your fears, remember three simple words, God is bigger. Seek his face, as the Psalmist says, "Enjoy God, cheer when you see him!" (Psalm 68:4).
In closing, Patricia Raybon offers, "In real prayer, we go places we don't want to go. We learn lessons we don't want to learn. We tell secrets we don't want to tell. We walk bridges we don't want to cross. We face battles we don't want to fight. Then we change the world."
Indeed, many things are uncertain outside of Haran. But of one thing we can be sure, God is bigger. You will find yourself in uncertain places learning new lessons while crossing unknown bridges facing seemingly insurmountable battles. But along the way you will be transformed, you'll see the Promised Land, and you'll change the world.
