Finding The Right Focus

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! “ – Isaiah 26:3.

When you talk to married couples, they often suggest that part of the reason they are having a hard time focusing on their marriage is that they don’t seem to have the time to focus on God. This is the secret to Godly relationships that can be overlooked. Paul, however, understood it and often wrote about it. Jesus practiced it daily and taught it to His disciples. It is the discipline of maintaining a fixed focus on God.

Focus is a way of life. If you want to be a pastor, your focus should be on attending a Bible college and maybe seminary. If you want to be a pilot you should focus on learning to fly. Regardless of your focus, it is easy to get distracted. Marriage and relationships are no exception. 

Relationships include friends, parents, siblings, spouses, girl/boy friends, children, co-workers, bosses, etc. We can allow any of these relationships to distract us from God. It is our relationships that are our connection with the world, and it is our human nature to have them, but when any of these relationships threaten to become more important to us than God, they can quickly become a distraction. Remember, God calls us to love one another (1 John 3:11), so when we do, it is an act of obedience to God. But when we love others, we need to be fixed on God. 

Marriage has the greatest potential of becoming a distraction from our walk with God. Marriage demands the most time, and that is why it is extremely important that married couples stay centered around God. Most Christians would agree that when your focus is fixed on the bumps and difficulties of life, your focus will usually be diverted away from God. But here is where we get into a catch-22 situation: Apart from Jesus Christ, nothing has the power to heal what is hurting or to correct what has been damaged, but we don’t experience that healing and power because our focus is somewhere else. 

Having played some golf, I am impressed with how professional golfers can not only shape a shot, but hit it the distance required to get to the green. When the pros are asked about their secret to their success they most often say, “keep your eyes fixed on the ball.” 

Keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus is the secret to a happy marriage. When you trust Him with the entirety of your life, you can rest in the fact that God has the ability to take care of your every need. He loves you and will keep His promises throughout your life. 

Discussion Questions:

1. What does having fixed focus on God mean to you? What is the practical application?   
2. When we focus more on finding God and less on our trials during the tough times, we grow closer to Him. Agree or disagree and why? 
3. We can choose to make God the most significant relationship in our lives.  What are the benefits?
4. What can we do this week to limit the distractions and keep our eyes fixed on God?