Focus on the Task at Hand ... by Max Lucado

Life is tough enough as it is. It’s even tougher when we’re headed in the wrong direction.

One of the incredible abilities of Jesus was to stay on target. His life never got off track. Not once do we find him walking down the wrong side of the fairway. He had no money, no computers, no jets, no administrative assistants or staff; yet Jesus did what many of us fail to do. He kept his life on course.

As Jesus looked across the horizon of his future, he could see many targets. Many flags were flapping in the wind, each of which he could have pursued. He could have been a political revolutionary. He could have been a national leader. He could have been content to be a teacher and educate minds or to be a physician and heal bodies. But in the end he chose to be a Savior and save souls.

Anyone near Christ for any length of time heard it from Jesus himself. “The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them” (Luke 19:10). “The Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people” (Mark 10:45).

The heart of Christ was relentlessly focused on one task. The day he left the carpentry shop of Nazareth he had one ultimate aim—the cross of Calvary. He was so focused that his final words were, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

How could Jesus say he was finished? There were still the hungry to feed, the sick to heal, the untaught to instruct, and the unloved to love. How could he say he was finished? Simple. He had completed his designated task. His commission was fulfilled. The painter could set aside his brush, the sculptor lay down his chisel, the writer put away his pen. The job was done.

Wouldn’t you love to be able to say the same? Wouldn’t you love to look back on your life and know you had done what you were called to do?

From
Let the Journey Begin:
God’s Roadmap for New Beginnings

Faith of Elijah...

"So he did what the Lord had told him" 1 Kings 17:5.  

Sounds like a simple statement, right?  Well, what exactly did the Lord tell Elijah to do?  Look back a few verses.  The Lord told Elijah to prophecy that there would be neither dew or rain for the next few years except at His word.  He also told Elijah that He would take care of him by moving him east of the Jordan and he would "drink from the brook and have ravens bring him food". 

Wow, that is a little strange, don't you think!  What a calling.

Not always do we understand the ways of God and why He does things they way He does.  I would assume that Elijah must have had some wonderment in how this would play out.  Do you think he questioned God about this new environment?  Do you think he was a little unsure?  

I know I would be.  When God gives a call, he does not always lay out every detail the way we might want.  We must have faith!  We must be able to act on the calling even if we don't understand it completly.  

Elijah had faith and acted.  "So he did what the Lord had told him."  I pray that I can have this kind of faith when God calls me.  Have you been in this situation before?  It is not easy and we can second guess God so much.  It takes a real faith to just go!

Look at the next verse, verse 6.  "So the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.  Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land."  

Some time later - that is a little vague but it implies that this raven feeding thing went on for a while.  Wouldn't that get old?  Wonder if there was any variety in the feedings, or did the ravens supply the same old thing, day by day?  I know I like a little variety in my meals.

The story goes on...  God tells him to move again and that he will provide food for him via a widow.  Look at verse 10 - "So he went to Zarephath."  

Elijah is a man of faith and we see it in his actions.  What do our actions say about us?  Are we people of faith?  When God says go, do we go?  Are we listening?  Are we willing to let God work out some of the details or do we need it all laid out before us?

I want to be more like Elijah and have the faith to act!  Elisha wanted this also.  Check out 2 Kings 2:9.  What a great verse and one of my favorites!  Elijah asked Elisha what he could give Elisha before he was taken away?  Elisha asks, "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit." It is obvious that Elisha wanted his faith to be like the faith of Elijah.  

I want that also!!!