Never Take Your Eyes off God

Whether it’s the loss of a dear person in our lives that has passed away or the heartbreak of a relationship that has fallen apart, these hurtful experiences can be devastating, and it might feel as though we’ll never get over them. In a relationship that has ended, sometimes we replay things in our minds repeatedly, trying to figure out what we did wrong. This speaks to that innate instinct within us to always want to fix what is broken, but we can’t do this ourselves. The psalmist said in Psalm 121:1(NKJV), “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help?” Our Heavenly Father wants us to keep our eyes stayed upon Him, and we should never take our eyes off our Creator, because only He can take away our pain.

All of us have challenges in our lives. They come in many shapes and sizes, and when we’re going through it, it’s often difficult to contemplate God’s plan and to envision all the good things He has planned for us. We just want to know, “Lord, why did this have to happen to me?” We want to know the reason why things fell to pieces, and to understand how we ended up in a place where we’ve suffered so many losses.

Most of us could come up with a dozen different reasons, but the truth of the matter is that all loss and pain lead back to one culprit, satan. In John 10:10, Jesus Christ calls him a thief and tells us that satan is in the earth to steal, kill, and destroy. So, make no mistake, every broken thing in the earthly realm was made that way by a trick, plot, deception, or attack caused by the enemy. But as God’s called out ones, He tells us not to let our minds become consumed with thoughts and regrets of the painful experiences that have happened to us. He doesn’t want us to become stuck in grief and despair. If we do, we might lose the ability to be as flexible and pliable to His Will and Word as He requires us to be.

Heartbreak can paralyze us if we let it. God knows this, and this is why He tells us to look away from the pain and cast our eyes upon Him. King David said in 1Chronicles 16:11(ESV), “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” You and I don’t know the inner workings of our own hearts. We don’t know why we feel the way we do sometimes. Loss occurs, something within signals sadness and our hearts begin to feel extremely heavy. We’re weighted down and our minds convince us that we are gripped by these feelings without a way of escape. Then our physical body responds to all these messages of sadness. This happens within minutes, and we often feel powerless to stop the cycle from recurring each day.

1Corinthians 6:19-20(NLT) is a powerful passage that informs us about another very important function of our physical body. It’s a house, and when we become born-again through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, our house—earth suit—physical body takes on a new and powerful tenant, the Holy Spirit. This passage says, “19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

God has placed His own Spirit within us, and the Spirit is our comforter, friend, helper, and guide. We may not know how our emotions, minds, and bodies work, but the Spirit does. He knows all things, and he knows where to go within us to blanket our pain, comfort our hearts, and teach us the truth that leads to greater healing and strength. This is truth! We must believe what God says and not what our emotions tell us.

When our hearts are weighted down, all our focus is on the weight of them, but Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 11:29-30(NLT) to make a shift. He said, “29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” He is inviting us to make a mental, emotional, and physical swap; to give him our burdens and take on his yoke, which is his guidance, instruction, leadership, example, and nature. These cannot fail, and they are light and a privilege to bear. So, when we cast the full brunt of our wills to do this—to surrender totally to Christ, the Holy Spirit will take over, and do the things for us that only he can do.

We must place ourselves under God’s rule, not our own. Colossians 1:13-14(NLT) tells us, “13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” Our Heavenly Father completed this work for us when He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to offer his life as a sacrifice for our sins. The work of our salvation and healing was finished by God in Christ. Now, our work is to keep seeking God, keep our eyes glued to Him, and never take our eyes off Him. Acknowledge with your whole being that God has healed your heart through the finished work of Christ and receive into your mind the confidence in His power to transform your pain into an everlasting joy. ■

“Never Take Your Eyes off God” written by Fran Mack. Edits by Kim Times and K. Stephens for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2024. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.