002: Change your Focus, Change your Life

When I started my business back in 1998, I focused on all the basic things a person should focus on when you are starting a new business. It was time-consuming, at times confusing, and I progressed very slowly at first. Like any other field, the field that I was in had its own methodologies. Here’s the thing; no matter what type of business you’re talking about, most of the people in that business do things a certain way. They use certain products, technologies and so forth. So I started researching all of that. I wanted to know what tools to use and how to use them

Getting all these things in place took a lot of time. From a spiritual perspective, I didn’t exactly flourish during that time. There are only so many hours in a day. You have certain responsibilities you have to take care of every day. On top of that, you also have to invest some time in your relationships. When you take all these things into consideration, you can see why it’s so hard to get things done sometimes.

One day, I came to the realization that most of my activity was fueled by worry.  I’m not saying the activity itself was wrong or that what I was doing was in some way wasting my time. I’m saying that there was an undercurrent that ran through just about everything I was doing. Almost like a type of music playing in the background. That undercurrent was worry.

If you asked me at the time if I had been worrying about things, I would’ve told you, “No, of course not.” My head told me I have put everything in God’s hands. My heart and my actions, however, told a different story.

Matthew 6:24-34
(24)  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
(25)  Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
(26)  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?
(27)  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?
(28)  And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
(29)  And yet I say to you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
(30)  Why, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
(31)  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(32)  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
(33)  But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
(34)  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.

On a day-to-day basis I found myself focusing on smaller negative things. For example, one day I would be troubled by a higher electric bill or phone bill I’d received. Another day, the cost of filling up the car with gas might hit me in a negative way. I’d continually be thinking about my business and how much money I was or wasn’t making. After paying the bills I wasn’t happy with what I had left over. I could easily see myself getting into trouble if I lost a client or if one of them didn’t pay their invoice on time.

Naturally, I try getting more business by marketing. That was an easy either. There was a lot of competition out there. Suddenly, a car repair would appear out of nowhere and take a chunk out of my income. Things that I had no control over started hitting me hard and that’s when the negative feelings would start growing. I started wondering, where God was in all of this? Was I supposed to be doing something different? I was reading the Bible, I was praying… but something was missing.

Maybe you can guess what that was? I wasn’t really putting God first, in a practical way. My focus and energy was directed towards the world around me. I was focusing on the same everyday challenges everyone else focuses upon, and it was getting me nowhere fast.

Finally, the unthinkable happened. A client shut down their businesses in my income suddenly dropped. I had to dip into my savings and it didn’t take long for that to start dwindling, too.

When that happened, discouragement really started settling in. That’s when I started doing some genuine soul searching and began looking to God 100% from the heart. When what you’re doing isn’t working, you have to change what you’re doing. Once my focus changed, everything else began changing, too. When I use the word focus, I’m talking about deep down on the inside. That’s the kind of focus am talking about.

Matthew 14:30-31
(30)  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
(31)  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

Peter had an incredible experience when he stepped out of the boat and started walking on the water toward Jesus. The miracle, however, was cut short when he started to focus his attention on the waves and the wind. Jesus wound up saving Peter before he sunk beneath the waves. He then asked the question, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt.”

When you focus upon what’s happening in the world around you, it’s very easy to doubt. If you put your confidence in having a certain balance in your bank account, once that changes, your whole world can fall apart. If your grocery bill makes you fearful, you need to take your focus and redirected back to God again.

Jesus said, “Take no thought for your life…” In other words, don’t dwell upon or worry about things you have no power over. Pray and give these things over to the Lord and learn how to trust him no matter what you see happening in the world around you. As I did this in my own life, I began to experience peace within my heart. My business grew and I really can’t even tell you exactly how it happened. Let’s just say that business growth came from unexpected sources. Afterwards, I started having more and more money left over at the end of the week, month, and year.

Occasionally, I would be tempted to put too much energy and focus into my business again. When that happened the first thing that left me was my inner peace. By inner peace I mean – the peace of God that passes all understanding.

Philippians 4:6-7
(6)  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
(7)  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

If I didn’t watch myself, all the forward movement would suddenly seem to come to a stop. And then, very slowly at first, things will start going backwards. Keep in mind, I’m not talking about theory here. I’m talking about my actual experience and how it lines up with what Jesus taught in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

If you’re struggling in this area, you can change the attitude of your heart in a matter of moments. You can open up the Bible to the Book of Proverbs and start reading it for yourself. I guarantee it won’t take too long until your thinking starts to change. If you really want God’s help, it’s available to you. Your whole life can change and you can be free of all the little things that torment people on a day-to-day basis.

It’s up to you.

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