Oh My Soul, Ever Look to Christ
Have you ever prayed so long for something that it felt hopeless to keep on praying for/about it?
Have you ever sat in a hard or unwanted circumstance for longer than you imagined and found yourself feeling hopeless and in despair altogether?
Have you ever felt like the thing you have been dreaming about, desiring, or working toward was pointless because you could not see any progress?
If you said yes to any of these, or even to all of these, then you are not alone. If I am completely honest, I have found myself saying yes to these questions more often than I'd like. Sometimes, I just have to rawly ask the Lord, "Is it just always going to be this hard, challenging, and tiring?" Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to keep on hoping, trusting, and believing. Sometimes that alone seems like the hardest task. We feel like "What's point, if it is not one thing, it is something else. God just wants me to figure it out because it is just meant to be this hard. That's the whole die to self thing, isn't it?"
Friends and fam, that thought is so far from the Truth. Yes, we are called to die to self every single day. Yes, Christ told us that there would be a cost to following Him. Yes, the process of sanctification is ongoing until the day we see Jesus face to face in Glory. However, we are not to dwell in despair and cling to hopelessness and discouragement; that is the complete opposite of what Christ has promised and given to us.
So how are we to accept these truths of reality and not lose heart or burn ourselves out of hope and faith?
We must look upon Christ Himself and all that we do have, rather than dwelling and focusing on what we do not have or what is not going according to our own plans and way.
Yes, this is much easier said than done... I know. However, we must learn to walk through this life with the hope, faith, and freedom for which Christ died. We must learn how to truly fix our eyes on Him in all circumstances and cling to His truth. Yes, in the good and best moments, along with the hard and mundane ones. We must learn how to see every single moment as one of purpose and use, rather than meaningless time. We must ask ourselves the hard questions and look at the depths of our heart before the Lord Himself. We must be willing to admit and confess where we are trusting in our own strength and hoping in our own plans/desires rather than Christ alone. We must be willing to learn how to truly repent (turn away from) the ways of unholiness in which we often find ourselves walking.
I came across a quote the other day that summed up repentance well: "Repentance is not when you cry; it is when you change." This stuck out to me because I often see myself and others give into the temptation of acknowledging something that we do not want to be true of our lives, yet we do not actually intend to do something about it. Ultimately, we just want the Lord to fix it for us or change the situation. With this heart attitude, we miss the greatest lesson and joy of the whole process.
God is more concerned about what He is doing in our hearts and about sanctifying us to look more and more like Christ in every way, rather than making things feel easy, comfortable, or eliminating the problem altogether.
When is the last time you just sat down and wrote out a list of things you are grateful for in life?
When is the last time you sat before the Lord in prayer and just went through His character traits and thanked Him for who He is?
When is the last time you asked the Lord "What are you trying to teach me or accomplish in me in this situation?" or "Which of your attributes are you trying to be for me in this or teach me about yourself?"
When is the last time you just thanked God for giving you breath in your lungs and choosing to give you life today?
I challenge you to answer one, if not all, of all these questions. I challenge you to take your eyes off of your surrounding circumstances and all that is not going "right" and choose to look upon Christ. I challenge you to practice gratitude for what you do have and all that Christ has chosen to do for you, rather than your lack, disappointment, frustrations, hardship, etc. I challenge you to just really acknowledge all that is going on in your heart and bring it before the Lord.
Some other questions to ponder and answer:
Where am I truly placing my hope and satisfaction? Is it in my job, relationship status, family, financial status, performance, ministry, possessions, community, health, etc.?
In whom am I actually trusting - myself, others, or the Lord?
Do I truly believe that God is who He says He is? That He is good, faithful, and has pure and perfect intentions?
Am I hiding behind my pride right now? Am I feeling discouraged because things are not going the direction I had hoped? Am I relying on my own strength to figure this out or make progress?
Am I trying to be in control of my own life or am I truly surrendered to God's plans - no matter what they may look like, because I am here for His glory, not my own?
Loved ones, the only way to truly endure the hardship of life and the reality that, as Christ followers, we are daily constrained to the process of sanctification which throws our selfish heart for a loop, is by learning how to come before the Lord in ALL things. We must learn how to fight the good fight standing on His Word and Truth alone, by the grace and power in which He has given us through the Holy Spirit.
I have said it once before, and I will continue to say it: if the only thing God ever decided to give me or do for me was send His Son, Jesus, to take upon my humanness (fallenness) and bear the weight of my sin (and the whole world's) so that His wrath may be satisfied and I (and anyone who chooses to accept, repent, and believe) could have a way to have a restored relationship with Him, then I am satisfied and grateful for just that. And even on the days my heart wants to forget that beautiful gift and take it for granted, I must learn to choose to rest and hope in that Truth and beautiful reality alone.
We must learn to tell our hearts, minds, and soul to ever look to Christ. For we truly have all that we could ever need in Him and Him alone. He is our source of strength. He is our source of hope. He is our source of perseverance, peace, and freedom. Endurance, hope, faith, peace, and strength comes through our humility and surrender to the Lord.
May we continue to learn how to walk by His grace and faith, wholeheartedly believing that He is who He says He is. As we run to Him in surrender and seek His strength and ways rather than our own, we will find the strength, hope, and riches we have in Christ alone, which will keep us from a life of despair, weariness, and discouragement.
I pray that we would choose to take our eyes off of ourselves and choose to fix them on Jesus.
Soli Deo gloria. 🤟🏼