Moses was 80 years old, when God called him to lead His people out of Egypt and into the Promise Land. (Sidebar – getting older, and even old, is not an excuse to sit on our laurels and think our job is done!! Herein, lies another future post!!) Too often, we focus on OUT OF Egypt and should be focused on INTO the Promise Land. I suggest that where we focus determines our attitude, which determines our altitude, which determines how close we are to God.
How much are we pre-occupied with getting out of where we are (ie, trials and tribulations) that we lose sight of where we wish to arrive (ie, blessed, at peace, eternity in heaven)? This is not how God created, or longs for, us to be. ”When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:19 (ESV)
Satan, and Satan alone, purports that we are to drown in our misery. God proclaims, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18 (ESV) Question you probably are asking is so how do you see joy when your blinding tears cry pain and sorrow. The answer roots from two other questions. Are you staring into where you are, or gazing into where you are going? Are you asking God to get you out of the captivity of your tribulations, or into the glory and freedom of His promises?
Of even greater significance, what nourishes your heart? Is your every breath beaten down by today’s sorrows, or upbeat because God breathes promising joy into your tomorrows? “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11 (ESV) Next time you are stuck in the quicksand of where you are, the choice is yours. Will you be pulled under by trying to get out of where you are? Or, will you be uplifted by riveting your focus on where God’s promises are leading?
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 