I LOVE love…But Is It My Focus?
Black Friday has come and gone so I can FINALLY talk about CHRISTMAS!!! One of my favorite things to do around Christmas time is curl up and watch a Hallmark movie. I know, cheesy right? But I’m certainly not the only one who does this and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it…unless Hallmark takes over Jesus.
Now I’m not going to go into the whole Jesus is the reason for the season thing, (He totally is though!) I’m talking about our minds and our focus, Hallmark Christmas movies are simply an example.
Venture back to Guatemala with me (remember I was there on a mission trip this summer) through some Story Time With Natalie to see my point here. While I was down there, I had to work very hard to keep my mind focused on the true reason I was there: to further God’s kingdom. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times a day my mind would wander from that focus and I would find myself saying ‘Natalie! What are you doing? Stop that! That is NOT what you should be focusing on right now!’ Let me tell ya, it was not easy but I knew that letting my mind wander wouldn’t do anyone any good. It was hard to keep telling myself that but it was so worth it because I heard God more clearly than I ever have before! Ya know what it’s like when you just KNOW it’s God and you can see what He lined up for you so clearly it’s as if you had a map laying out in front of you? That’s what I experienced down there and it was because I was so focused on Him. I knew what kinds of thoughts would be beneficial for me and I forced my mind to stay on them. I refused to let myself think about other things that would distract me from the reason I was there.
Now you’re probably wondering what Hallmark Christmas movies have to do with that. Let me explain. Our culture is extremely romance driven. We love to hear a good love story and we think about it all the time. Many of us would describe ourselves as hopeless romantics (the guys too if they aren’t too manly to admit it!) One time after a friend finished telling the story of how she got engaged, another friend declared ‘I just love love!’ SAME!! We crave a good love story. So we seek them out. We watch all those Hallmark Christmas movies. We read all those romance novels. We listen to all those love songs…Because we love love! These cute stories, these thoughts of love become ever present in our minds and we long to experience them for ourselves. We care so much about how so and so met, fell in love, had that perfect kiss, got married, and lived happily ever after…. but it’s just fiction. And that happily ever after will end.
The thing is though, we’re already smack dab in the middle of a greater love story than any movie writer could ever come up! But do we focus on that? Nope! We’re waaay too distracted by all the fictional love stories around us! Our happily ever after as Christians, won’t ever end. Our happily ever after is Heaven! Read that again. Our happily ever after is Heaven! That should be our focus, ya’ll!
As much as I love a great love story, it’s incredibly distracting! I don’t know about you but if I don’t actively refocus my mind like I did in Guatemala, I think about it all the time. And that’s a dangerous trail to go down because pretty soon I start to be discontent with my own life and I worry about whether I’ll ever be a part of a cute love story. I lose focus of God, His love, and my purpose here and suddenly I can’t see Him like I did before. I long to experience Him like I did in Guatemala but I just can’t. Maybe you’ve felt the same way, it’s not that you’re intentionally avoiding Him, you’re even still looking for Him, but you just can’t see Him or feel Him the way you did before and you wonder why.
This is where I’ve been recently. I even skipped a lesson in that that Priscilla Shirer Bible study on the Armor of God I’ve been doing because I stayed up too late watching Hallmark channel. (I know that sounds like it’s not really a big deal but it definitely had consequences, even though I didn’t see them at the time.) When I finally got back to doing the next lesson on the Helmet of Salvation, God used it to point out some of those consequences for me. Priscilla says “Poisonous thinking will also cripple your ability to clearly detect the leading of God’s Spirit.” Thoughts of romance aren’t poisonous in the sense that they’re toxic, they’re poisonous in the sense that they squeeze out the good thoughts from our brain. Maybe you aren’t a hopeless romantic like me, but I’d be willing to BET there is some focus in your life that takes up room meant for God. (WOW! CONNECTION! This is the worldliness that I talked about in my last post. I literally did not even make this connection until right now!) This is exactly why I can’t feel God like I did in Guatemala! I’m not constantly refocusing my mind on Him. Instead, I’m letting it wander to other things like love and romance and those thoughts are squeezing God out of my mind!
So I challenge you to rein in your thoughts. Refuse to let yourself dwell on those thoughts that squeeze God out of His place in your mind. I’m not saying don’t ever watch another Hallmark movie (let’s be honest, I’m going to watch a whole lot more before December 25) but don’t let them consume your mind. Tell yourself ‘Stop it!’ then refocus and truly search for what God is lining up and doing in your life. Remind yourself of God’s love story for you, your salvation, your happily ever after in Heaven. Love the love you’re already in.
