When my daughter was younger, she was the flower girl at the wedding of one of her babysitters. She was nervous and excited and taking it all very seriously, but then she got to the point in the aisle where she could see her daddy sitting in the crowd of wedding guests. It was like the rest of the scene vanished when she saw his face. Her eyes widened and her hand shot up in the air to wave ecstatically at the one who mattered most.
This month we’ve been making our way through the chorus of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” The chorus says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim . . .”
If I’m honest, the things of earth are usually in vibrant color right before my eyes, demanding my attention. I need the Lord to give me eyes that see Him and cause the cares of this world to fade away as I focus on the One who matters most. I need eyes that see beyond today into eternity.
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
Sometimes I wish I could argue with the apostle Paul about his word choice in these verses. My troubles don’t feel light or momentary. The past 18 months, for example, have felt like a really heavy year that just won’t end. But I think Paul’s wording here is intentional – one day when we experience the eternal glory of heaven, we will look back on the covid pandemic and see it as a tiny speck of suffering we endured on our way to heaven.
We don’t have to wait until heaven to have this perspective. When we focus on the unseen—our heavenly Father and the promises He has made—we know that our current struggles are not forever. We can persevere knowing that Jesus has secured our glorious forever home.
No matter what you face this week, look at Jesus and watch your earthly troubles grow strangely dim.
For the first two posts in this series, click here and here.
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