Inward vs Outward?

As a child my family would go to the beach every year around the July 4th holiday.  Because my birthstone is chalk I  would burn just getting out of the car and walking into the hotel room.  I would then spend the daylight hours in the hotel room waiting for the night hours, because the I've never heard of anyone getting a moon-burn.  I stayed in the room unless I was covered from head to toe with sunscreen and had a long sleeve shirt, hat and socks (which I swam in).  I wanted to stay in because I was hurting.

Now because of the scars (emotionally not physically), I don't like the beach.  I don't like the sun.  I would rather head to the mountains than the beach.  Give me shade.  I'll go to the beach if there is significant shade for me to hide under, and I live in sunny Orlando, Florida - the sunshine state.  Don't tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor.

Life is hard!  We all have been burned at some point.  You have been hurt by people to the point that you don't want to put yourself out there again.  It is easy to become overwhelmed with your hurt and then turn your focus and attention inward.  It is easy to put YOUR problems at the forefront of your mind and attention.

We used to sing a song, in jest, around our house when we would get like this.  "It's all about me, Jesus.  And all of this is for me, for my glory and my fame.  It's not about You, as if I should do things Your way."  This is a direct reflection of the struggle of life.  We say that we are Christians with our mouths and even our church attendance, but when it comes down to it, we are so wrapped up in our own thoughts and problems that we are not focused on those around us.

Check out this verse:

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?  does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?  For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend!  Be clothed in Christ!  Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup -- where does that get you?  Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?...Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove...The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse.  Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse. James 2.14-17, 18b, 26

  As Christians we are human as well.  We battle to keep the main thing the main thing.  We have issues and struggles.  We lose focus on what is really important.  We are here to be the witnesses of Christ - to be His hands and His feet - to be His ambassadors.  As Christ taught us to pray, "Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  We are the instruments that God chooses to use to bring His will to earth.

My mind is wrapped and bogged down with the weight of life so many times that I miss the opportunities that God is putting in front of me every day to show others Him.  I get so consumed with my own life, that I am like that person that Paul just described.  I don't mean to, but I'm just giving lip service to people's needs.  Emotionally, spiritually, physically and/or mentally I don't have what it takes to help them at the moment.

I am self-absorbed.

It is time to break out of the inward focused life and start looking up.  It is time for us to open our eyes to people around us.  It is time for us break out of our shells and start recognizing the people around us need us and what we have - Jesus Christ, our hope and salvation.