Looking at Him

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him." - Philippians 3:8-9a

"For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever." - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

It's hard to imagine the people of the Old Testament not having the Holy Spirit in them or much scripture to rely on, and the only way to communicate to God was through priests who could go into the holy of holies to talk to God. I am thankful for scripture and the Holy Spirit in me for the comfort, peace, and hope they provide. And prayer that lets me directly communicate with God.

We fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. I will turn away from what looks like waves to swallow me, lightening bolts to strike me, and wind to keep me from standing up. I will turn away from shaking my fist as God, questioning His timing or reasoning, and hiding in an emotional cave. Peter saw the storm, but Jesus saved him. Job questioned his punishment, but God reminded him of just how in-control and powerful He is. Maybe I am the child crying that my ice cream scoop fell on the ground, but God is walking with me to the entire ice cream store where I get way more than the one scoop that fell, but I just feel like that was the last chance in the world.

"You have so little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?" (Matthew 14:31 in response to Peter's sinking.)

Then the Lord said to Job, “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” (Job 40:1-2)

Faith - believing without seeing. I have faith that God has a good plan for my life, even though I don't know what it is. I have faith that He will put me where He wants me at the right time, even though I have no clue what that looks like. I have faith that He will use me to reach others and bring others to know Him more, even on days where I fumble around and mess things up. I have faith that He pursues me, fights for me, defends me, and speaks to me, even when I lose battles, turn away from Him, and sadness clouds my vision. His greatness outweighs my small problems, and yet He is in the trenches with me.

Heaven will be so great, where life and all it's problems will be like a dream that is soon forgotten! And we will celebrate and praise the God who is so merciful and loving beyond all measure! Those are things to fix our gaze upon.