Focus Properly
When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me –
Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. (Psalm 73:16-17)
Hello Chosen Ones!
We live in a world of comparisons. Life seems to be a race to be the best, look the best, and have the best. We are often driven to “keep up with the Jones” and when we realize we can’t, we become discouraged, frustrated and often lose hope. We see the fruit of this “first world” lifestyle in our children as they allow social media celebrities to influence their passions and pursuits, often leading to depression and anxiety when they realize they can’t achieve and obtain what their celebrity gurus claim is achievable. The rich and wicked continue to prosper as they sell their latest “how to” guides and techniques to the eager masses who want to look and be like the ones they idolize. This enticement doesn’t end when you leave your teens, for the algorithms that drive the advertising know just exactly what we need at each age we achieve. Apparently, my most urgent need is for the perfect 62-year-old body via chair Tai Chi – at least that is what the daily bombardment of ads is telling me! I digress.
I was reading through Psalm 73, the opening psalm in the third book of the Psalter, a book that describes a darker period in Israel’s history, when God had seemed to abandon them. They were suffering, while the wicked around them were prospering. Asaph, the author, admits that he struggled with envy and confusion as he watched the people around him who were not God followers prosper. It’s a raw portrayal of what many children of God wrestle with: “Why do the godly suffer, while the wicked prosper? Are there no benefits to serving you Lord?” (vs. 2-16). How come so many saints get sick, suffer poverty after giving their lives to serve the Lord, and have to go through so many trials? No one captures it like Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of this Psalm in the Message:
What’s going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody’s tending the store.The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches.I’ve been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me?A long run of bad luck, that’s what— a slap in the face every time I walk out the door. (vs. 11-14)
It seems human to question God like this. We all want answers to our questions, especially when things are not going the way we expect them to. I believe that when we are at this point, we have taken our eyes off the Lord and put them on people. We have focused on the earthly, rather than the heavenly. At this point, it is time for verse 17: “When I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache ...Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture” (vs. 16-17 MSG).
In other words, it is time to get into the presence of God. “Sanctuary” literally means “holy place”. Where is your holy place? When our eyes are on the world and looking at all we don’t have compared to all that others do have, we have a vision problem. In the Holy Place, our eyes are lifted up to heaven, to where God is. In that moment, we realize what the psalmist realizes, “Whom have I in heaven but You? I desire You more than anything on earth” (73:25 NLT). I have You! I am the richest person in the world! “My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever” (vs. 26). Let the rich and famous have their things, and their looks! Everything they own will perish along with them, but “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever” (Ps. 23:6).
Maybe your holy place is church on Sunday morning where the songs and the Word help you re-align yourself under God’s truth. But we all know once a week is not enough. We need a holy place, a sanctuary carved out into our daily lives where we refocus and re-charge like the psalmist and learn, “How good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do” (73:26 NLT). We go from envying others to sharing with others all the blessings we do have. What a shift! All the riches of heaven are ours in Christ! That’s where our focus needs to be:
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. (Col. 3:1-2)
Grace and peace,
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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