Fix Your Eyes on Jesus in Hard Times

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT

Have you ever started a diet? At first, you were excited and doing great, but eventually, you fell away from it? You slowly started to have more cheat meals and let more things slide. This happens because we forget about the end results. We started to focus more on the food around us that we shouldn’t have rather than keeping our focus on our goals and end results.

It’s safe to say that we do the same thing with other areas of our life, especially when things get hard. When we face trials, it can be much easier to numb the pain with temporary fixes, such as TV, food, gossip, alcohol, drugs, sex, and so on. But in the long run, it is more harmful to ourselves than beneficial. 

So what do we do when we face hard, challenging times?

When we go through hard, challenging times, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus. In the good, the bad, the trials, the unknowns, the victories, through it all, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, the perseverance master. When we look to Jesus, we can learn how to persevere through anything, just as he did.

Jesus had his focus on the end result, not the current situation. Jesus was whipped and beaten, slandered and hated, rejected, and crucified, but he didn’t focus on any of that.

He persevered through it all, knowing that when he got to heaven, he would be with the father, and it would all be over. That he accomplished what he came to earth to do, to save people. 

He kept his focus on the end result, not the current situation. Another way to put it is that: Jesus focused on eternity, not the temporary. He had an eternal perspective.

I’ll admit, it can be much easier to focus on the current situation than the end result and persevering till the end. But it is crucial to persevere and fight the good fight of faith by keeping your eyes on Jesus and have an eternal perspective. 

Prayer

Father God, you know all that I am going through right now. Please help me to take my eyes off of the situation and fix them on you. By keeping my eyes fixed on you, I know that you will give me the strength that I need to persevere and keep an eternal perspective. Thank you, Jesus, that you are a great example to learn from. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Related Post: Where is God when I’m afraid?

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