Keep your FOCUS on JESUS - 14th Nov 2006

One of my friends' Dad suddenly had a severe stomach pain and was admitted in the hospital. When my friend got to know about this, he was really worried and rushed home to be with his family. They had a scan done and we were all praying to God during this time but we really didn't think it would be anything serious. Little did I now what God had in store.

The scan results came and it was found that there was a tumour the size of a fist in his Dad's liver. We were all numb with grief and shocked and very very afraid. I could not pray as well. I would just sit at God's feet and cry and cry. I could not pray. I could not understand why this was happening. Everything seemed to be going so well and even though the stomach pain had been quite severe, we really didn't think it could be anything serious. The scan reports had just shaken our secure world and had shattered everything. I used keep thinking those days - 'Nothing will be the same for us ever again'.

Through all the tears, the sadness, the anxiety, the brokenness, above all - the fear, it was amazing to see how calm my friend was. He was equally broken and shattered and very afraid. But he had a strong Faith and was looking upto God alone. We went to some of the best hospitals in the city and almost every doctor we spoke to said just one thing - start the treatment immediately. We also consulted a doctor in the family and a childhood friend of mine who is a doctor today and both again had the same thing to say - start the treatment immediately. Well, we all panicked and more than anything it was all blurry. Probably we were more afraid than sad. And fear had blocked our minds and had stopped our brains and we could not think straight.

It was amazing to see my friend at such times. He was ofcourse as sad and afraid as us but he was very clear and he was able to think clearly, unlike us. Whenever we had a look at the reports we would feel real bad and he would sit and study the reports and then he would just suddenly get up and say - Come let's pray. He would read a few verses from the Bible and then we would pray. God always spoke to us through comforting, encouraging verses. He always said that He would heal my friend's dad and that He wanted us to trust Him in this. We would feel so greatly encouraged by these verses and then just begin thanking God. But usually this was short-lived. Because we would get to hear something or the other and then we would be discouraged again. But every time we felt this way, my friend would say - Come let's see what God has to say. He would then read a few verses and then pray and I could see him literally drawing his strength by keeping his focus away from the enormity of the problem and towards the enormous miracle working power that is in Jesus.

This happened everytime we spoke to a doctor and felt discouraged, everytime we studied the reports and we were discouraged, everytime we saw the family broken and in tears, at all such times, he would say - Let's see what Jesus says. And I should say that that is what kept us sane. The more we began relying on God and the more we began trusting Him, the thing only got worse. The news was just getting real bad. But my friend would continue to keep his focus on God. Trusting God during bad times is one thing but continuing to trust Him even when things are getting worse and not seeing God act calls for heavenly strength and immense trust.

This went on for about a couple of months. There was no improvement in Dad's health and we hadn't started the medication yet. The doctor had said that if we didn't admit him in the hospital right away, things would get really bad within 6 months and it would be too late by then. We were just calling on God, praising, thanking and just holding onto Him, like holding onto something for life. We were literally clinging to Him, afraid to look at the situation. I remember those days clearly when we would sing together - "Trust Trust in the Lord, lean not on your understanding" (by Jaci) and the hymn "How great thou art" over and over again, trying to think of each word in the song and draw strength from it and bring it live in Dad's life and our own as well. We would sing these songs with tears running down our eyes, our hearts contracted with fear and grief. Dad's weight was still going down, his appetite as well was going bad, he still had pain in his stomach but God still continued to speak through his word and through his children to us in various ways asking us to Trust Him.

After about two months, Dad's weight suddenly began increasing - very slowly - but yes, it was definitely increasing. His appetite started getting back to normal. No more pain. He was beginning to look good as well - the tired, old look had gone. God is true to his promises and faithful to his children. Last month we had a scan done and the doctor was very surprised - the tumour had just stopped growing and was beginning to shrink. The doctor was very surprised. He had told us in 6 months, it would be too late and here he was seeing that the tumour was actually shrinking. Praise God!!

Someday I will write about this journey of fear and faith, tears and trust and growing in Jesus through these six months. These six months taught us the valuable lesson of learning to keep our focus on God. Just looking at his promises and holding on to his word and calling on him and looking to him for help. Asking no 'WHYs', instead trusting him wholeheartedly.

I'm glad Jesus had Peter as one of his disciples. I seem to relate a lot with him. When walking on the water, as long his focus was on the storm and the furious waves around he began to sink, but as long as he looked at Jesus, he was walking closer and closer and closer to Jesus. (For the whole story)

Don't look at the waves around. The devil wants us to sink and tries to move our focus away from Jesus and towards the problems. But don't let him win. We, as humans, don't have the strength to keep walking, focussing on the storm. We would definitely sink in depression, self pity, bitterness, anger. Keep your focus on Jesus. Believe me, its not easy. But keep trying and keep making an effort to focus on Jesus alone.

As long as our focus is on the storm, we would sink. As long as our focus is on Jesus, we would be walking closer and closer and closer (even if small slow steps) and closer to Jesus.


Psalm 28:7 - The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song

Psalm 56:3 - When I am afraid, I will trust in you.

John 14:1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me.