Looking to God

By Tracee Swank

Today I made a list of everything that I am afraid of. Not because I wanted a reminder of the things that are potential roadblocks and challenges in my life, but because I wanted to see what the things were that were distracting me from my passion and pursuit of God’s call and purpose in my life. This exercise stems from a quote that came through my twitter feed recently.

“The longer you look at life’s problems the bigger they get. The longer you look at God, the bigger he gets.”

I wish I could credit where this quote came from because it has become a mantra of mine over the last few weeks.

Many of the items on my list fell into the “what if” category of things that were completely out of my control. I was also looking at a list of things that were getting my time and attention that were not focused on God.

This got me thinking about the focus of many churches. Things like declining membership, giving, volunteer involvement, and leadership development would probably make the top of the lists of fears right now. All of these are valid and need focus and attention but are we looking at them as big problems, or are we looking at them as big opportunities for God?

Are we looking for fixes in programs that are working in other churches instead of seeking the will of God for our own congregation?

Are we letting fears of what might happen if giving trends continue or what might happen if we do not clearly communicate the responsibilities of membership get in the way of exploring how and where God is working and moving around us?

When I finished writing my list of fears I read over them and promptly fed the page through the paper shredder in my office. I prayed that God’s will would be done and set my focus on seeking him so that he may get bigger in my life instead of letting those things listed on that paper get bigger.

We need to shift our focus to discovering God’s solution to a problem instead of spending time focusing on the problem. It starts with understanding what you are allowing to get bigger. What are you focusing on that gets in the way of God?

If you have a congregation that is fully aware and engaged in their mission and purpose then you have a congregation focused on letting God get bigger, if you are focused on fears and what ifs, those problems will only continue to get bigger. That is why seeking and understanding God’s will is so important.

If you are a pastor, staff member, leader, or member of a local church and you feel like you are spending a lot of time focusing on problems that just seem to be getting bigger and bigger I encourage you to stop for a moment to understand what you are looking at. Consider if you have truly shifted your focus to looking to God and allowing him the opportunity to get bigger and bigger in you.

You may not be able to feed all of your problems and fears through a paper shredder, but you certainly can turn them over to a God that is big enough to handle them.

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