Do you find yourself in an unbearable situation and alternatives that don’t work. Just like the wind your options are here today, gone tomorrow?
We want you to be empowered today and know that Faith Means Focus On God.
So don’t look at the storm. Don’t Look At The Wind!
According to Ecclesiastes 11:4-6
“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well”
I remember seeing this age-old quotation below several years ago from an unknown author:
If you want to be DEFEATED – look BACK
If you want to be DISTRACTED – look AROUND
If you want to be DELIVERED – look UP
The question is: who is up there for you to look to for your deliverance?
The Psalmist gave us a clue in Psalms 121: “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth (Ps 121:1-2).”
So, when we look up, we look up unto the Lord Jesus – through whom God made heaven and earth.
Focus Your Faith On Jesus
Listen and be empowered today!
I want to share with you how to focus your faith on Jesus in order to release supernatural power of God for your breakthrough, blessing, deliverance, provision, healing, promotion, or progress in life.
To be effective, FAITH must look in the right place and focus on the right person. Faith is like a radio antenna with which you receive radio signals.
If the antenna is not pointed properly at the frequency or direction where radio transmission signals come from, you cannot receive.
In the same manner, your faith is able to receive from God when it is directed at the source of God’s power – JESUS.
Let’s illustrate this from Matthew 14:22-32. The Bible says the twelve disciples of Jesus were alone in a boat on the sea and the wind was boisterous around them.
In the middle of the storm, they saw Jesus coming toward them walking on water.
The Bible says they were afraid because they thought He was a ghost. The disciples saw Jesus operating at a level of power over nature that they had never seen before.
He was neither overthrown by the stormy wind on the sea nor sunk while walking on water because of gravitational pull.
Seeing this supernatural act, Peter, one of the twelve, looked straight to Jesus and asked if he could join him in this experience. The Lord bade him come.
Peter walked on water because he did not consider the wind
“Then Peter called to him, ‘Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water’. ‘Yes, come,’ Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” (Matthew 14:28-31)
There are two things I want you to notice from Peter’s experience here:
First, Jesus did not calm the raging storm first before asking Peter to walk on water. Wouldn’t it have been good for Jesus to speak to the storm first so as to create a calm environment on the sea for Peter to operate or walk on?
But, rather than removing the storm, he chose to walk with Peter through it. No wonder, God doesn’t wait for our environment to be perfect, devoid of trouble or just right before he asked us to do great things.
And, according to Ecclesiastes 11:4-6, “he that observes the wind will not sow”.
If you are waiting for the perfect condition to follow your dream or do what God has placed in your heart to do, you will never do it. The condition will never be right.
You must do what God places in your heart, despite your condition or challenge.
And, the beauty of life is, the greater the test you face, the greater appreciation we have for your testimony.
Imagine this: while it’s great to know that Peter walked on water I am sure it is a far greater testimony to know He actually walked on water when the sea was boisterous.
Is your faith focused on Jesus?
Where Is Your Eye Focused?
Don’t look at the storm. Faith Means Focus On God
The second thing I want you to see in the passage is this: as long as Peter kept his eyes focused on Jesus and what Jesus told him to do, he was operating in the supernatural power of God (just like Jesus) and doing the impossible.
But, as soon as He changed his focus from Jesus and His word and put his gaze on the wind blowing around him, he doubted Jesus and began to sink.
Herein lies the greatest dilemma I see in our walk of faith – the co-existence of doubt alongside faith in the same person. The existence of the wind trying to blow away my focus from the word of God I am walking on.
Mark 11:23 (paraphrased) says, “If you have faith and do not doubt but believe, you will speak to this mountain to be removed and cast into the sea and you will have whatsoever you say”
Also James 1:4-8 (paraphrased) says, “if anyone lack wisdom, let him ask from the Lord in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord”
So, what do you do when at one time you seem to operate in “faith” and at another time “doubt” sets in?
What do you do when it seems your faith-container is full and at another time it is empty?
And because most of us are seeing people as “super-men” in the kingdom, it is possible to think of such people as having a “super-size” faith that is never plagued by doubt.
But, let me tell you something that may shock you:
All of us (from the least to the greatest) have doubted God at various times in our lives when we are faced with boisterous “winds” of life.
The only one that has ever lived with a “perfect” faith is JESUS.
The rest of us, at some point in our lives, have all been in the place where John the Baptist was when he sent a message to Jesus from the death roll in prison:
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else (Matthew 11:3)?”
Imagine this was the same John, whose primary assignment in life was to introduce Jesus to Israel as the Messiah and he spent all his ministry years in the wilderness doing just that.
Isn’t it surprising that a powerful man of God like John, who was anointed with the Holy Ghost from the womb and of whom the Bible says is the greatest of all born of a woman could doubt if Jesus was the Messiah in the face of pressure?
And if the person who doubted in Matthew 14 had been another disciple other than Peter.
Let’s say, Thomas, I am sure nobody would give a damn because he is a known perpetual “doubter”, but it is significant because this is Peter – the rock!
The one whom Jesus says upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail.
Faith in the son of God: Jesus
That is why I believe none of us should think of him/herself more highly than we ought to think when it comes to the strength of our own individual faith (Rom 12:3).
The Almighty God knows our frame and knows that we are but dust (Ps. 103:14).
The only thing that makes the difference in any of us is the glory and grace of God in our earthen vessel of clay (2 Cor. 4:7).
So, rather than bragging about the strength of your faith to withstand the storm, you should place your trust in the faith of Jesus.
Only His faith can withstand the storm and can receive from God for you. This is the faith Paul says we now have and live by in the New Testament – THE FAITH OF THE SON of GOD who loved us and gave his life for us (Gal 2:20).
If you depend on His faith and focus your gaze absolutely on Him, the same Jesus who was readily available to lift Peter up when his faith failed is available to help you out in your moment of doubt.
He will not let you sink or fall. He will uphold you with His victorious right hand.
Now, some people might be thinking: “But that was Peter. I wish I have the same opportunity that he and the rest of the Apostles had – to walk physically side-by-side with Jesus; to attend his crusades and healing meetings; to directly tap into his anointing and power.”
Well, if that is what you are thinking, I have good news for you: you don’t have to walk physically with Jesus on the streets of Jerusalem like the twelve.
Jesus had already been “lifted up” when he died on the cross so that the whole world can look up to him and receive (see John 3:14,15; John 12:32; Eph. 4:8; John 1:16).
The fullness of the power of God deposited in Him had been poured out on the cross. His divine power had made total provision for all your needs and wrought complete victory over the enemy.
This power is now available and is at work in you, right now (see. Eph. 1:18-20; 1 Cor. 1:18, 23-24; 1 Cor. 2:4-5; 2 Pet. 1:3; Eph. 3:20).
The power to heal, save, deliver, bless, promote and provide all flow from the same person and place – Christ and Him crucified.
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2, NLT).
Finally, no matter what you are going through, don’t look back, don’t look down or look around, look UP, FORWARD and UNTO JESUS. Do not to get distracted, discouraged or demotivated by the wind and stormy waves blowing around you.
Focus your eyes on Jesus and keep pursuing His promises for you and your family. I can assure you that He is there to walk with you, lead you, guide you through the storm and bring you safely to the expected end.
God bless you!
Our mission at Faith Life Community (a.k.a Faith Life Ministries Int’l) is to transform people’s lives through the application of the truth of the gospel and raise leaders who would be God’s agent of change in the world. It is our vision to raise a church community where we all grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus.