Tag Archives: Fix our eyes on Jesus

Grief Roads

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The lights on the tree glisten, mirroring the tears that make their way into our eyes.

The winds that blow and the raindrops that fall add to the heaviness of heart.

Love experienced well leaves a longing that is felt when that one has been called home.

Changes of any kind are hard, but there is that one change where even small steps seem thunderous and will always be felt.

And with each remembrance, each “next step,” each seasonal event, daily occurrence, or experience, another hard move forward. Unavoidable but not comfortable by any means.

That is when to have those who weep with you and ache alongside you, who don’t hurry you along but will follow your lead in walking the road, who will take you to the throne of grace whether you ask for it or not is more needed than one realizes in the moment.

Yes, loss and change are different.

It may be the loss of someone you love,

An unexpected change of circumstances,

Children growing up and starting their own lives so special events necessarily change.

There are various levels of grief –

From the deep and gutteral cries that come amidst loss of life

To the inevitable changes of life.

Grief is a reality this side of heaven.

We want to run from it, ignore it, forge a way around it.

In any way possible, we want to avoid it.

We know Jesus said that “in this life, you will have trouble.” (John 16:33)

It is one of my least favorite and most favorite things Jesus said because, while it declares a hard reality, alongside that reality it pronounces a precious promise.

The sting may remain, but our sure Hope is a balm on which to lay our head.

“Take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b)

He promises His presence in the midst of the hard, and God keeps every promise!

“Surely, I am with you always even to the end of the age!” (Matthew 28:20)

Jesus doesn’t pick us up and run around the edges of grief, keeping us from experiencing it.

Indeed, He does carry us as He tenderly wraps us and presses in and through it and sometimes that grief is too much to bear; definitely too much to bear alone.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched. Nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God…” Isaiah 43:2-3

And the LORD often uses people to be His hands and feet, to fill needs, give comfort, walk alongside or sit still beside us and just let us speak or be silent.

But, in those quiet moments or the moments when memories flood our senses, when the hurt is real and the crushing weight of longing is heavy, He still says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

He still says that He will “carry His lambs close to His heart.” (Isaiah 42:11)8

It is a reality that brings both comfort and a sigh.

And those who love others wrapped in loss feel the weight with them and for them.

In the midst of Christmas, there were several times that very specific people came to my mind and the weight of their grief brought and still brings tears to my eyes as I take them to the throne of grace where God promises to bring His peace.

We may not “feel” the emotion of peace but His presence remains and He tenderly gives us joy through tears.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15)

Christmas and other key events can bring joy, and they can be a searing reminder, a whisper and a cry, “Jesus!”

And He is near.

The New Year can be a new start and a place where we cry out, “Hold me my tender Father! It hurts.”

And He hears.

Holy Spirit alone can bring comfort, and He alone can cause one to “turn [their] eyes upon Jesus.”

I’ve said it before: Christmas is glorious, and Christmas is hard.

That is the reality.

The greater reality is that Emmanuel has come, not just to save us from the penalty and power of our sin – for that is amazing and remarkable in itself, that God would come down in the flesh to bridge that gap between Himself and His created ones, His children – but He also came to be our tender Savior, our long expected Messiah, the longing of our souls and the Comforter when there is no comfort in this world.

Silent night, holy night!

Hark the Hearld Angels sing; glory to the newborn King!

Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!

Joyful news of Hope to the weary, to the hurting, to those longing for another time, to those grieving deeper still!

I love you and am asking the God of all comforts – our God, our Savior – to be your peace, to carry you when you don’t have the strength for another step, when the emotions you experience clash with the Truth that you know…even the dot.

I’m asking Him to allow you to experience the reality of His presence and a supernatural peace and sweetness in this season and in these days.

I’m asking Him to give you a settled joy even through tears, to have moments of joy even in the memories and the longing.

May He also give you His rest in the quiet and still.

“You will fill me with joy in Your presence.” (Acts 2:28)

Let it be so!

“Born to seek and born to save
Born to take our pain away
God with us, Emmanuel
In His arms, all will be well


In your silent night
When you’re not alright
Lift your eyes and behold Him
Feel the thrill of hope
You are not alone
In this moment, behold Him
King forevermore
Come let us adore
Christ our Savior, behold Him
Feel the thrill of hope
We are not alone
In this moment, behold Him
In each moment, behold Him!”

“Behold Him” Francesca Batistelli

* photo #1 credits: Ivy Koval

Turn Your Eyes

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Sometimes we see clearly.

Sometimes we see through tears.

Sometimes the effects of the Fall on our bodies are deafening.

Sometimes the choices of others weary us.

Sometimes we are blinded by fear or disappointment.

Sometimes we are blinded to truth and goodness by our sin.

Sometimes we are deceived into thinking we have to hide, we must walk a road alone, we could never invite even our safest person into our hard place.

It’s all about the gaze.

Will we give into the spiral of fear that threatens to undo us, even when the circumstances are rightly fearful?

That is sure to increase the dread.

Will we turn inward and see only with our physical eyes?

That is sure to deceive.

Will we turn inward and see only our hurt and so shift blame off of us and on to anyone else for anything we have done or anything we do not have, onto whomever we care to thrust it?

That is sure to discourage and embitter.

Will we focus on our discontentment in any area of life which always bleeds over into other areas, leading to rationalizing all manner of choices that leave us wounded and wounding others.

That will lead to a hunger that is never satisfied.

Or will we:

“Turn our 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.”

“Jesus, to You we lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our prize. We adore You, behold You, our glory and our prize. O Jesus, we turn our eyes to You.” *

With eyes fixed on our Savior, in gratitude and in awe, we can shift our gaze from the things that weigh us, that ensnare us, that we believe are hopeless to the Truth, to where a change of affections, attitude, and gaze is possible in Christ and for Christ.

With eyes fixed on Jesus, we press in.

With eyes fixed on Jesus, if even through tears and trembling, we lean in.

We reset.

We shift our gaze and our gazes intentionally.

We see with new eyes.

We think with a renewed mind.

We learn to delight in His good gifts yet hold them loosely.

We turn off the noise.

We give thanks.

We rest.

*Turn Your Eyes – Sovereign Grace Music

Photo credits: Frank Laws

God is More Than Able

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“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory…”  Ephesians 3:20-21

God is able.  We know that.  We don’t doubt it.  We want our lives to reflect a deep assurance in Jesus so that others will know the God in Whom we trust.  And yet, there are times we forget and allow our fears to overtake what we know and step off our firm foundation to a place of shifting sand.

It’s so easy to trust, when our eyes are fixed on Jesus and when we “feel” His presence.  But when the winds shift and the waves get wild, too often we shift our gaze inward to self or outward to circumstances and we falter.

Can’t we, at times, relate to Peter, the disciple who boldly declared his allegiance to the Savior, yet later ran in fear when asked if he knew Him?  It wasn’t his intention, but in the moment he hesitated.  He had moments of both trust and the lack thereof throughout his life.

In Matthew 14, he boldly declared his faith by looking intently at the Savior and, thus, was able to walk out to Him on the water when Jesus said, “Come.”  But when Peter began to focus on the raging storm around him, taking his eyes off Jesus and putting them on what he could see, he began to sink.  It was Jesus who had to save him when all he could do was cry out; just as He is faithful to do for us when we call out in our weakness.

God lovingly commands His children to keep our eyes on Him – yes, because He is worthy and yes, because He is good!   But it is also because God knows that we are only steadfast, confident, and able to stand firm when our eyes are completely fixed on Him through His Word, the Bible, and our daily, even minute to minute, communication with Him through prayer.

These aren’t legalistic rituals or “spiritual” exercises to soothe the soul on the service. Rather, it is time to climb into the lap of our Abba Father, our Savior, our Comforter and to rest instead of wrestle; to put our confidence in the hope that is grounded in a Person not a “wish upon a star” philosophy devised by man.

It might be a designated time or an impromptu moment of praise, an outpouring of our pain or doubt, or a humble moment of repentance when His Spirit convicts our hearts and we must set our sin aside so we can again firmly walk in truth.  When we are in relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ, we can come at any moment – He desires it and beckons us to it.

God loves for us to bring Him praise, unburden our hearts, pour out our fears, and lay ourselves bare before the God who knows us intimately, even better than we know ourselves.  When we don’t understand the circumstances around us, we have a Father who is not afraid of our questions and who even allows us to ask “why.”  But then He tells us to trust in what we cannot see rather than demand that He change our situations or readjust His will and His ways to suit ours.  We are called, as children, to open hands; to a humility that says, “Not my will, but Yours, Lord.”

And, we are invited to a greater hope and purpose that says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)  Many cling to that verse as if it is quick fix – that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will do whatever we want Him to do.  But it is so much richer and more redeeming than this short-sighted view.

The paradox is that if we truly grow in our delight of the LORD – if we earnestly seek Him and know Him – our desires will be transformed to reflect His desires, our wills will be changed to want His will.  In so doing, we will receive the double satisfaction of having a heart after our Redeemer and He, in turn, will fulfill His renewed purposes and our redefined desires.  Through it all, He gets the glory and we receive the joy!

We see the chaos; He sees where He has said, “this far and no further.”  We often miss seeing the mercy and grace in situations, but make no mistake, everything that touches us is full of both, even when we don’t see or feel it.

Our covenant keeping God sees the full picture clearly from start to finish.  We see only where we stand in a moment’s time and even that imperfectly.  If we will trust the heart of the One who, in His great love for us sent His Son to redeem us and make us His own, we can rest, even give Him praise, in the middle of the moments that sometimes rock our world,  the daily grind of the ordinary, or the difficult life situations that are part of our everyday, because we know that what He does and what He allows has a greater purpose now and in the future.

As Oswald Chambers writes, “We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing, that He is preparing and fitting us for some extraordinary thing by and by, but as we go on in grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, in the present minute.  If we have God’s say-so behind us, the most amazing strength comes, and we learn to sing in the ordinary days and ways!” 

And again, Chambers states it so clearly,“Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.” (from Love: A Holy Command)

Yes, He is preparing to do exceptional things even as He is already doing in the present.  Indeed, he is doing much in and through us, though we may not yet touch that reality and though we may, at times, hold up open hands through tears!  We know that because, as we look back, we can often say, “Now I see what God was doing all along and it was flawless!”

Through it all – past, present, and future – He gets the glory and that’s just how it should be because He is more than able; He is good!  And that is not dependent on His answer!

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus…”  Hebrews 12:1-2

MAKE MY LIFE A PRAYER TO YOU  by Keith Green

Make my life a prayer to You, I want to do what You want me to,
No empty words and no white lies, no token prayers, no compromise.
I want to shine the light You gave, through Your Son, You sent to save us
From ourselves and our despair, It comforts me to know You’re really there.

Oh, I want to thank You now, for being patient with me,
Oh, it’s so hard to see, when my eyes are on me,
I guess I’ll have to trust and just believe what you say,
Oh, you’re coming again, coming to take me away,

I want to die, and let you give Your life to me, so I might live
And share the hope you gave to me, the love that set me free.
I want to tell the world out there You’re not some fable or fairy tale
That I made up inside my head –
You’re God, The Son, You’ve risen from the dead.