where to look

What do you do when everything around you reminds you of the battle you're in?

The song "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" sounds off in my heart. 

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.

I'll be the first to admit, it's not always easy when life is smack in front of your face jumping up & down like a crazy person & yelling "look at me, look at me!!" 

But the good news my friends is that we don't have to do it in our own strength. When you feel like you can't look away from life, tell Him that! When you feel like you can't hear anything but life, tell Him that. & when you feel like you just can't muster up the faith....tell Him that. 

Rest in the fact that He said His strength is made perfect in our weakness. He'll help you look to Him. 

We were never made to deal with life on our own. The plan from the beginning was that He would walk & talk with us. He wants to hear when we're struggling & He wants to hear when we're winning & He wants to be involved in both. 

He doesn't expect us to muster anything up in our own strength. In fact, He says the opposite,

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

So come to Jesus, no matter how you feel. & by "come" I simply mean begin to tell Him where you're at & what you're feeling. Open up a dialog with Him, that simple act is walking by faith - it means you believe He is real & He is listening. Continue to walk in faith by believing that He will answer. 

He will.

***Be full***

One thing I've learned is that life doesn't stop. 

Life doesn't care what you're going through, it will keep chugging along. On top of that, it doesn't care how much of a load you already have to carry, it will add more. 

Time is relentless. 

So what's the answer? Be full!

It might seem like a cop-out answer, but it's been the "realest" truth in my life. It never fails. When I'm full of God's Word, prayer & worship it causes a chain reaction. The troubles of life don't disappear, but they aren't as big & I can see the victory! My emotions are more Godly - I don't PMS (let's just be real!), I don't cry over a hang nail, I don't get discontented. My body is more "alive!" I have the desire to eat healthy, exercise, & take care of myself. All of this happens BECAUSE my spiritual life is full. 

& then there's the opposite...when I'm empty. It's not pleasant. You can pretty much guess it's the exact opposite of the above. 

So why in the world do I stop?? Why do I keep shooting myself in the foot? Why do I put down my Bible? I've come to determine that the "flesh" or the thing that connects us to this world doesn't care if it suffers as long as it doesn't have to deal with God. Human nature isn't anti-suffering, it's anti-God. My flesh would rather have me miserable, than have me running on all cylinders & full of God! 

Thank God He's given us the victory! Romans 7 & 8 tell us that, yes we're warring against a sin-nature, but that we've been given the power over it! God in us is stronger than any desire to sin! But if we're not full of God, how can we hope to defeat our enemy? We're not strong enough on our own, BUT HE'S GIVEN US THE ANSWER!! Himself! 

Stay faithful - reading, praying, worshiping - and see that even though life won't be perfect, you'll have the victory!

*photo by Caleb Willoughby