"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2.
There are so many distractions in our world all vying for our attention! We are constantly being barraged by information, ads, emotions, and the media. Recently, in my life, I have felt like Jesus has been pushed to the side and buried under a pile of distractions, but we weren’t called to a partial life of Christianity. This is a relationship that should be reaching into every area of our lives and completely changing how we do everything! We have to fix our eyes on him, and that doesn’t mean to just look at him once in a while, but we have to set our mind and attention on him. In the same way, when ballerinas spin, they prevent dizziness by picking a fixed point to focus their attention on. Even though they are spinning, they continue to turn their heads to relocate that fixed point. In the same way, we must continue to refocus on him despite all of the things that are happening around us. Ballerina’s do this to prevent from getting dizzy, and we must do the same in order to not become dizzy and distracted by the things of the world. Personally, when I don’t read the bible in the morning, I feel like I am disoriented and empty during my day. Those days, I feel like I am unprepared to for everything that comes my way. It is so important to get into the truth and refocus our attention on him daily.
The story of Jesus walking on the water is a perfect example of this. It begins in Matthew 14 when Jesus walks on the water towards a boat full of his disciples in the middle of a horrible storm. They see him and think he’s a ghost, but his reply is, “‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid’” (Matthew 14:27). He says not to be afraid, but also promises his disciples that he is there. Just like the disciples, we don’t have to fear, because we put or hope in a God that is next to us in the storm. When we get overwhelmed, God reminds us that he is near. He is above the storm, always in control. Peter responds to him saying, “’Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’” Jesus tells him to come and Peter gets out of the boat and walks toward Jesus.
Unfortunately, Peter takes his attention off of God and looks at the storm around him, “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14: 30-31). The moment that he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the waves around him, he began to sink. If we take our eyes off of Jesus and only look on the evil and muck of this world, we will absolutely be overwhelmed as well. When he began to focus on the waves, he was afraid. The wind and the waves did not suddenly get worse, they were just as fierce when he got out of the boat, but he redirected his attention towards the waves. Peter was only thinking of the fury of the elements, and he forgot the power of Christ. He began to compare his own power to the waves rather than Jesus’ power and was overwhelmed by his own lack of power.
I know that I do this in my own life frequently, I take my eyes off of God and get overwhelmed by my own lack of control and weakness. These moments are painful for my pride but are good, because it reminds me that I was never in control in the first place. I then am reminded to take my eyes off of myself and place them back onto Jesus. Jesus did not remove the storm so that Peter could focus on him, but he came through the storm. Jesus calls to us through the distractions. He does not remove them completely so that we are forced to read the bible or look to him. We have focus our attention on Jesus, and the storm will fall behind him.