8. Keep Your Focus
We have come to the end of the ‘Obligations of the Master’…for now at least. And what better way to finish this part of the series than with the reminder the Lord gave to the apostles- keep your focus on higher things.
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even demons submit to us in your name.”
He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:17-20
The apostles had just returned from their mission journey and they were excited that it had been a fruitful journey. They followed the instructions of their Master and because of that they enjoyed great success. They were so excited that they voluntarily gave an account of their work. What did the Lord do? He refocused their excitement from the success of this world to eternal success.
This is not the first time we see the Lord refocussing His servants. Let us look briefly at the life of Samson:
Samson
A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and childless. The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” […] The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges 13:2-25
After having great victories in his assignment against the Philistines, Samson fell in love with Delilah. In exchange for money, she sold him out to the Philistines ( see Judges 16).
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow after it had been shaved.
Judges 16:21-22
Samson lost his focus and ended up at the mercy of the very people he was created to destroy. From a ruler of the Israelites, he now found himself blind and a prisoner. The man who had killed a lion with his bare hands was now in shackles that he could not loose.
But something must have happened to him while in prison, because he remembered his identity. He remembered the call on his life and he remembered his Master:
Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Then Samson reached towards the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
Judges 16:28-30
Samson accomplished the work he was given. The journey to his fruitfulness was quite dramatic, but in the end he carried out his Master’s assignment.
And what shall we say of Moses, David, Solomon, Peter and all the other great servants of God recorded in Scripture who at one point had to be refocused?
Your Turn
Do not let success get into your head and distract you from your purpose.
Do not let failure stop you from fulfilling the purpose of your life. It may not feel like it, but God does not waste our failures. If you let Him, He will use it as a lesson and a stepping stone to help you accomplish the work He has just for you.
Success and failure are part of life. Rather than focus on them, focus on that glorious day when you meet your Lord face to face and He tells you, ” Well done, good and faithful servant!”