Turn

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. Helen Lemmel I have always loved this song, and have so many times found it to be completely true. Why then do we so often fail to live out this truth? Why do we instead keep looking upon our problems, needs, afflictions, pain, regrets, and seeming impossibilities, all of which obscure and mar His face? This fallen world is not home for the followers of Christ. Home is found in His eternal Kingdom. Yet we can become so obsessed with what is happening here, that the truth of His Kingdom fades from our consciousness, and this world, which is fading away, becomes the focus of our reality. When that happens, the face, heart, and Person of Jesus Christ is obscured, sometimes wholly so. We've all been there, and we know that it's an awful place to be, yet we allow the enemy to so distract us with the events of this passing world that we become blind to the one that will never pass away. This realm, and all the pain, problems, and needs it contains becomes more real to us than Him. It doesn't have to be so. He doesn't mean that it should. He said that in this world we'd have trouble and suffering, but He also said that we are to be filled with hope and expectation in the midst of it. He has overcome it all, and in Him, so do we. Joni Eareckson Tada has deeply impacted so many lives with her recounting all the times she has faced the terrible pain and suffering that has accompanied her being a quadriplegic. Her pain is constant, but it is especially so in the midnight hours. She speaks of how, in those times, she has learned to gaze upon His face by speaking His Word and His promises that are found there. She softly sings hymns of praise and thanksgiving, and most of all, she prays that He would (once again) come to her with His comfort, joy, peace, and grace. As she does this, she gazes upon His face in ways that only those who have walked such a path of suffering will understand. It cannot be explained, but it can be experienced. He has promised that it shall. There's an old hymn that goes, "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. One look at His dear face, all sorrows will erase." I stand on that truth. One day, when we're fully with Him, there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, but in the meantime, we walk through many hills and valleys, but He walks with us, and beloved, if we look for Him, turning our eyes towards where our hearts know Him to be, we'll see His face, and no matter how dark the night or deep the valley, we'll be able to go on.....as we turn our eyes upon Jesus. Blessings, Pastor O