A friend with a national reputation of selling cars once told me, “Robert, I can tell everything I need to know about a person by looking in the backseat of their car. If I see fast food wrappers, clothes, papers, an unkept life, they are probably going to be a risk.” In 1976, The Eagles gave us the theme song many have adopted, “Life in the Fast Lane.” It’s a life habit of TTDIA (Trying to Do It All). We try to be everywhere + for everyone = resulting in being exhausted, feeling guilty, unfulfilled, and damaged/weak relationships. Relationships with our spouse, children, co-workers, boss, friends…and even God become strained & unstable. We find ourselves approaching our relationship with God and the people we love like fast food. We wheel into the burger joint, placing our order hoping to satisfy a hunger all while rolling down the highway of life. We know in our gut this is not good, but we convince ourselves, “it’s just right now. I can change when things improve.” You might get away with this strategy for a while… until the storm hits.

Fast living and broken relationships are all the result of our focus. It is when the storms of life come and leave devastation and hopelessness. This is when we recognize what really counts. From our God School textbook in 2 Chronicles 20:12 we find King Jehoshaphat, a good king, surrounded by the superior armies of The Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites, ready to overrun the kingdom. Now ponder the King’s short prayer…a prayer that you can use today. “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Quick fix solutions do not work when facing impossible situations. Note, the King admitted “We do not know what to do.”

• First, accept the fact, without God I am hopeless.
• Second, recognizing…The Power that Only God possess, “but our eyes are on you.” When we continue to focus on the situation, the problem will only grow. But when we change our focus and relentlessly focus on Him, life changes. Peter discovered this truth years later in his storm when he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink into the sea. (Matthew 14:23-34). In John 4:1-26, The Samaritan women at the well was an outcast, a reject woman until she focused on Jesus. Jesus transformed her life, her future that day…and He has the Power & Desire to do the same for you.

Yesterday a dear friend called me to tell me about how she had almost fallen for the “fast-food” approach to studying God’s Word. Life was coming at her from all sides and when her Bible Study Fellowship Leader called about getting started in the study of Revelation. She told her leader she was going to drop out. But God has His ways. Last night I sent her a simple text message, “How are you? Are you ready to start BSF this year?” Little did I know about her not planning to be part of the study. But God began to whisper to her heart and so this morning she called her group leader and got back in BSF and then called me to tell me what had happened. Only God. God is the Great Orchestrator. When she changed her focus from the problems of life to the source of Power & Hope, everything changed.

There were a couple of words she used that point to a shift in focus. “Intentional,” “Priorities” and “You can’t take the short cut…” We can’t just show up at church, spend a few minutes and expect much more than a “Happy Meal.” It takes time…time alone with Him. God tells us in Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.” So, when we go to church, having first spent time alone with Him, church will become a powerful & worshipful experience.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Isn’t it time to spend time with Him? Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In John 6:55 Jesus said, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” Jesus is not fast-food…He is real.