Where is my focus??
Have you ever felt like you have messed up so badly that there is no coming back from it?
I’m going to be real with you. My spirit man is perfect in Christ, but I still live in a body that is far from perfect. When I think about the impact I want to make, part of me wants to be like Paul, who counted all his earthly achievements as rubbish. Yet there is still a part of me that wants what I have done, being saved more than 40 years, 3 years of Bible College, writing multiple books, serving in a variety of places in our local church, to matter.
It is precisely when my focus shifts to what I have done that I lose sight of what is truly important. My focus must stay on what Jesus has already done and accomplished, and that is what should shine through my life.
Another thing I realized when I lost focus is that I let little things slip in that might seem insignificant. But if I am not paying attention, they can cause disproportionate damage to something valuable.
Song of Solomon 2:15 (CJB) reads:
“Catch the foxes for us, yes, the little foxes! They are ruining the vineyards when our vineyards are in bloom!”
This verse uses little foxes as a metaphor for small, seemingly insignificant issues that can cause major damage to something valuable, like our spiritual growth. The vineyards in bloom symbolize a season of growth, beauty, and potential, making their protection urgent.
The call to “catch the foxes” is a call to proactive vigilance. To actively identify and remove even minor threats before they escalate. This principle applies to many areas of life: unspoken resentments, small habits, or even seemingly tiny things like a headache or a cold that can undermine trust and fruitfulness over time.
We might think, “But it’s just a headache. I can take a tablet and feel better and go on.” Yet Luke 16:10 says, “He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much.”
Let’s read this verse as if it is written about God. When I place my trust in God and take Him at His Word in the small things, eg. I trust who He says I am, I am righteous, I am loved, I am free, I am forgiven, I am healed. Then trusting His Word and His faithfulness with the seemingly bigger things like cancer, or healing someone who is lame, or raising the dead is not such a stretch. To God, these are all on the same scale. In our minds they are bigger and maybe scarier, but to Him, it’s the same thing, and Jesus dealt with all of it when He died on the cross and rose again 3 days later. I can trust Him, because He has already shown Himself to be trustworthy and faithful.
Now reading the verse as it pertains to me. I take authority over a “small and maybe insignificant” thing and speak the Word over it. And as I see the results of being diligent and taking authority, my confidence grows and I step out and start exercising authority over much bigger things, e.g., like cancer, healing someone who is blind, or even raising someone from the dead. We cannot expect to raise people from the dead if we have not even tried with the smallest things like a headache.
When I think that God can only use me or that His promises are only for my benefit because of what I have done, I put God in a box. I limit who I think He is and what He has done and will do. Letting my past or previous experiences determine the dimensions of His grace, or exalting my own imagination above God, creates strongholds that limit my dreams, my achievements, and makes me think I am unworthy of His Spirit within me.
Let’s look for a moment at Peter in John 21. Jesus had already revealed Himself to the disciples after His resurrection, and I’m sure many of them were wondering what they were going to do with their lives now. Peter says, “I’m going fishing,” and the others go with him.
Then, after a night of catching no fish, Jesus tells them to cast their nets on the other side, and they catch a boatload of fish (sounds familiar, right), and Jesus invites them to breakfast that He prepared for them. In this moment, Jesus singles out Peter. He asks Peter three times whether he loves Him, and after every answer, Jesus gives him an assignment.
I believe Jesus was asking Peter:
• Do you love Me more than your past identity?
• Can you give up your self-condemnation about your past failures?
• Are you willing to let go of all your resentments and comparing yourself with others?
• Are you willing to give up everything that has kept you in a low opinion of yourself?
• And can you love Me more than anything else?
We know Peter’s answer: “Lord, You know I love You.”
With every assignment Jesus gave Peter, there was a deeper question: Was Peter willing to agree with who Jesus said he was? Jesus believed Peter was capable of feeding His sheep, even if Peter did not know it in that moment. Jesus was telling Peter that his willingness to agree with who and what Jesus said he was would become his purpose and his supply.
Jesus was helping Peter shake off the old label and receive the new identity He was giving him: Shepherd of His sheep. Jesus didn’t leave Peter to wallow in self-condemnation and miss out on his calling.
The same is true for us. When wrong thoughts come: “Why me? I can’t push forward. Can I just hide?” Jesus comes with love, but He does not coddle us. Like a good Father, He says, “Stop this. Throw back your shoulders, lift up your head, and move forward. You are wallowing in something you are already far beyond in Christ. This is not who you are, and it is not beneficial to My purpose for your life.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
*“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.”*
God knew that we would struggle between deciding to live as our new identity or according to our old man. And He is telling us today: “Do not lean on what you know!” To not lean on our own understanding, but rather to trust in Him with all our hearts and acknowledge who He is and who He says we are, and He will direct our paths if we choose to follow Him.
God knows exactly where we are weak, and He has already given us His perfect Spirit so that by Him we can do all things. The flesh is not the one who gets to make life-and-death decisions. Our spirit, joined to His Spirit, is the one that should rule in our everyday life.
The rest is up to us. Are we going to let the little foxes come in and ruin our vineyard? Or are we going to be proactive, agree with what God says about us, and by His grace live like Jesus?