“For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.” Isaiah 29:23 ESV
Reflection: what takes your attention – what is happening in the world, or what God is doing in our midst?
We are so easily distracted. Just think about something simple as having a conversation with a colleague or friend. You might start out wanting to talk about one or two specific, important topics, but somehow the conversation drifts off into something completely different. And you never get to what you really wanted to cover. Even worse, think about your ability to stay focused on what your colleague or friend is saying during your conversation, without getting distracted by your own thoughts or things happening around you. It is very difficult for us to stay focused on anything. Therefore, we see countless books on the subject of communication and listening skills. And of how to stay more focused. And if you reflect on your own life, my guess is that all your big achievements have been a result of having the right focus, and staying focused. Distractions work against the ability to focus, against the ability to reach a goal.
Today we read from Isaiah of the great works God is doing by His own hands “in the midst” of His people. We can probably speculate that he was referring to the coming of Christ, as he came “in the midst of his people”. But notice something very interesting here, where it says that when they see his works, “they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.” They will stand in awe of God. Again, when will they stand in awe of what God is doing? When they see what His hands have done in their midst. Isaiah later wrote about this great work of the Lord “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 ESV It is so interesting when you read this, the question that He is asking the people,
“do you not perceive it?”
Strange question, right? Why would He ask that? He said He was going to do exactly what He did. But so many a that time, perhaps even most, were so distracted with the difficulties of life, Roman occupation, a burdensome religious system, etc. And that was exactly when God decided to fulfill His promises through Jesus. Can you image that Jesus had to go around and literally recruit his disciples? And even then, they questioned him, whether anything good could come from Nazareth (although that was also prophesied) they questioned everything along the way. It took time for them to finally have the right focus, to focus on the kingdom of heaven, and not be distracted by the world.
So what about us? Do we actually see the great works of the Lord that He is doing in our midst? In our lives? With all the noise of the world, with social media, with all sorts of entertainment, are we staying focused on what God is doing? Or is the world taking most of our attention, stealing our focus? Paul wrote “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV. Notice that this is not a future thing.
The new has come. Past tense.
Today, spend a few minutes to name what are your biggest distractions, taking you away from focusing on what God is actually doing in your life. Let’s stay focused on the works of the Lord, keeping in mind that we belong to a different kingdom, a heavenly kingdom. Let’s not be distracted with everything the world is worrying about.