Focus On Yourself

• July 21, 2015
• victor
• General, Health, Healing and Wellness, Substance Abuse and Addiction

No matter how bad things get in the world around us there is always good work to be done on ourselves.  Sometimes people can become immersed in trying to fix or save the world and avoid dealing with our own pain or flaws.  Correcting every injustice is an impossible task.  It’s usually best left to the God of the universe Who knows exactly what is going on and cares about all the injustices that are taking place a lot more than we do.  I am not saying to turn a blind eye to oppression and injustice so please do not misunderstand me.  I am also not implying that there is no need for personal boundaries.  If someone keeps poking you in the eye and ignores your requests to stop, it may be best to take a step away from their reach.  I am talking about focusing so much on others in order to avoid what needs to change in ourselves.  Sometimes people can get lost in all the things that need to change in the world around us that we forget to listen to the voice of God with regards to what needs to change in our own hearts and character.  This is a form of denial.

In Ecclesiastes Chapters 3 and 4, King Solomon said, “Moreover, I notice that throughout the earth justice is giving way to crime, and even the courts are corrupt.  I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everything man does, both good and bad.”… Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.”  Whether or not a person is interested in the Bible, I think everyone would agree that Solomon was a man of great wisdom.  He saw the problems in his civilization but even as a king he knew he was powerless to change all the issues of  mankind.

Accepting the world as it is, and focusing on what needs to change in ourselves can be very freeing emotionally.  When we are able to say with confidence that we are working on the growth that needs to occur in our own lives, it is so much easier to become less entangled with the issues our neighbors may  have.