Frustrated With the World?

[HKHaugan]

If ever there was a reason for being more pro-Jesus our present news headlines should be sufficient. The question is why, how and where?

OK, why did Jesus become man when He could have stayed in the comfort of just being God? Answer: He saw the people He loved focused on the world, on things they couldn’t change, on things that weren’t personal, on things that only brought death. They lost touch with Him, their Creator.

OK, how do we solve it?
Answer: By staying focused on Jesus and sharing Him. Aha, but that’s the same old answer. No, it’s not the same old answer. You have to consider how in terms of where we are.

OK, now we get down to the real problem of our age, our time, where we are individually. The world in which we live, the larger secular society, is run by the media. TV, its news and programming, advertising in all its forms and our yielding to them, spends all of their time distracting our focus. While our focus should be centered on our relationship with God we are encouraged to spend our time being concerned over those things that are beyond our control. What governments do, how actors behave, the bizarre activities of marginal people, world terrorism, murder, political corruption, wars in far off places and escapist program fantasies, all of it is designed to absorb your every minute, frustrate you and buy their products as a temporary solution.

First, “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We are to be in constant touch with the Lord God through His Word. We are to be relational with Him and relational with each other. That was and is His purpose for us. This is what we are really missing in the whole picture. You may not see it that way but if you will check how much time we spend on being distracted by what is going on ‘out there’ you might be amazed by what you find.

Second, the proof of our distraction is in Jesus’ words to the devil who offered Him world control, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” Worship is what we consider worthy enough to spend our time on---‘worth-ship.’ Whatever distracts us, takes us away from being interpersonal with God and others is what we are considering worthy of our time, ‘worth-shipping.’

Third, refocusing is the key. We do that by reading, studying, sharing with others, the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word” when God said all the “let-there-be’s” and when “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” We dwell on all of that.
It is absolutely necessary to add a fourth and most important understanding. When Jesus became a man grasp this essential fact. He did everything on a local level. He didn’t get involved in politics, worry about the affairs of other countries, mass murders, corruption in governments, dictators, civil rights, the condition of secular society, atheism or any ‘ism’ for that matter. No, none of that stuff.

What concerned Jesus was being personal and interpersonal right where He was every next moment. That was His Father's will. Why? If Jesus would be a person right where He was His Father would take care of the rest of it.

You see it is more important to be a person right where you are than spend a life of frustration trying to change what you can’t change. This means concentrating on your relationship with God and how you can share that with others. The Father’s will is to change the world through changed hearts. That’s how Jesus did it. Why should we think it can be done any other way? If you want the world to change, work on the part in which you are directly involved. Trust the Lord to encourage the same wherever He has raised others to do it where they are. There is no other way.

Political arguments, angry attitudes and self-righteous indignation are the devil’s playground. Don’t give him a foothold. If we continue to keep our focus on Jesus in the Word, share with brothers and sisters in the Body and reach out to the direct world in which we live then God’s will is accomplished.