FOCUS ON WHAT GOD CAN DO
During tough times, it’s easy to focus on how bad things are and forget how big God is. Your focus has a big influence on your future. Focusing on the stormy waves of life will put you underwater – focusing on the God who made the waves can allow you to walk on the water! It’s your choice.
We shouldn’t tell God how big our problem is – rather we need to tell our problem how big our God is! (Tweet this!) In Psalm 107, David shares some descriptions of God on which I invite you to focus:
1 – SAFETY GUIDE. “God led them straight to safety to a city where they could live.” (v.7) The people of Israel were in trouble. God guided them to safety. God’s desire is to always guide us to safety. Notice that God guides us straight to safety.
2 – THIRST SATISFIER. “He satisfies our thirst.” (v.9) The thirst is both physical and spiritual. I remember Jesus told the woman at the well that He could give her water that would satisfy her thirst forever. (John 4:13-15) Jesus began the sermon to the multitudes by saying, “Happy are you if you thirst after righteousness.” (Matthew 5:6) Drinking natural water satisfies physical thirst temporarily. Drinking God’s water satisfies our most important thirst forever!
3 – CHAIN SNAPPER. “He snaps our chains.” (v.14) The people were in bondage and could only see darkness and gloom. God snapped those chains. Chains represent oppression and captivity – God represents freedom and victory. There are no chains that He can’t snap!
4 – DISTRESS DELIVERER. “He delivered them from their distress.” (v.19) Distress is stress multiplied. Today, people are stressed about their employment, the economy, the coronavirus, racial unrest, etc. The world creates distress – God dissolves distress.
5 – STORM CALMER. “God calms the storms to a whisper.” (v.29) Today, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires, etc. can be devastating. How do you handle those? Trust in the God who can calm the storm to a whisper. God doesn’t always take us out of a storm – but He can always take the storm out of us! (Tweet this!)
6 – DESERT DEVELOPER. “He turns deserts into pools of water and dry land into flowing streams.” (v.35) The desert and dry land are symbols of death – not much lives. But God can take what is death and develop it into luscious green land where people can settle, flourish, be fruitful, and live.
7 – SILENCE STRIKER. “God calls the wicked to be stricken silent.” (v.42) Troubling times love to create chaos and a lot of noise because it appears to be victorious. When God strikes silent the tough times, you can begin to hear the victory of God’s cheers breaking the silence of the wicked.
8 – HISTORY MAKER. “They will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.” (v.43) History is being made every day. There are dark moments in history, but we are thankful today for people in the past who let God create a different history. His history is His-story. What kind of history are we making that future generations will study?
What is your focus today?
