Changing Focus
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“Why are you looking for a living person in this place for the dead? He is not here, he has risen from the dead.” Matthew 24:5-6
The women cam to the tomb on that first Sunday morning after Jesus had been crucified on the cross. Jesus was dead, and they saw his body laid into a tomb. The women had walked with Joseph when he had laid Jesus’ body in this tomb. They had rested the next day on the Sabbath, and now they had come to the tomb on Sunday. They came in sorrow and grief but were told Jesus had risen from the dead. Their focus was on death as they walked, but now their focus changed from death to life. They were confused. They wanted to believe in life, but their hearts were filled with sorrow and death.
In our grief, our focus is on death and loss. Our hearts are filled with our own sorrow and pain. We focus on the emptiness and loneliness of our lives. Nothing is the same. This leads us down the road of negativity and despair. Hope and meaning are allusive. The plans and dreams from our lives have faded. Any happiness has been shattered and our hearts are broken. Our focus is on the past and what we had. Life will never be the same.
We can choose to remain in the box of grief. Grief will always be a part of us. The loss never goes away. The memories remain in our minds and hearts forever. But grief does not need to remain the main focus of our life. The box of grief is filled with memories, but also sometimes we focus on reviewing every event leading up to the death and the actual death itself. We stay in the pain and intensity of the loss and continue to focus only on what life once was. It seems impossible to exist in any other way.
When we change the focus of our lives, it does not mean we deny the grief. We just begin to focus more on living and finding meaning and purpose in the life we now have. It is intentionally living into life. Sometimes grief becomes comfortable and familiar. It is all we know since our loved one has passed. Staying in the familiar is not what we really want but taking a step into the unknown seems impossible, too.
Where is your focus today? Do you focus on what you no longer have and the life you wanted to continue? Do you focus on the inability to change the reality of your life? I have learned to focus on what I have, not on what I do not currently have. My focus is first on being thankful. I thank God for the foundation of my life, the relationships I have had and the difference they have made in my life and who I am. When I focus first on being thankful, I begin to see the blessings of life. It is not that I deny the loss and grief and pain, but it is not my first focus.
Society focuses on the negative and the problems and the brokenness of the world. We all see it and hear it daily especially if you turn on the news. This will feed your grief and pain. Change your focus. Read God’s Word first. Give thanks for what you have and who you are. It is not that we are denying the pain and heartache. It is not making it your first thought and focus. You cannot deny the loss and how your life has changed. You cannot change what happened. It is what it is, so how do you live into the life you now have?
Easter is a time of hope. Jesus died for our sins. He was laid in a tomb, but that is not the end of the story. Jesus is alive. His resurrection gives us hope of eternal life with Him in Heaven, and it gives us hope for our current life. This hope allows us to focus not only on death but on life. Life will be different but different is not bad, it is just different. Start changing your focus to Jesus and the hope of life He gives. I am changing my focus. I am focusing on the good and finding moments of peace and joy. I am focusing on what God has for me, not on what others think or expect. My focus is Jesus and me.
