spiritual vision

"the christian life isn't hard. it isn't even difficult...it's impossible!"
louie giglio


it makes sense that following after Jesus is the most difficult thing to do in this fallen world, especially with this fleshly nature weighing me down. it is so hard to have faith - not only faith that God is real, but a deeper faith as well. it is hard to trust in the promises of God, which are unseen and eternal, in a tangible and tempting world. it is impossible to constantly have our vision set on heaven, just as it says in 2 corinthians 4:16-18.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are acheiving for us an eternal glory tha far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is sen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

if we could really put into practice this verse, i believe our lives would be changed drastically. the problem is, we can't. we simply cannot set our sights on Christ alone and never be distracted from that goal. many followers of Christ have experienced this narrowly focused vision for a time. whether it be a church camp, your salvation experience, a mission trip, or just an amazing week of life, these times, i think, are the most fulfilling times in life. we have one purpose, with one care and only one desire - Jesus Christ.

unfortunately, things tend to pull our eyes away from only Him. we get distracted in some way or another. it could be directly. for example, we are tempted and eventually fall. our eyes are pulled away from him, and we begin to seek after other things, forgetting about what God has done for us. this happened over and over again in the old testament. one of the greatest examples of this, throughout the entire history of israel is the parting of the red sea. this event is a huge part of the psalms, mentioned over and over again as one of the greatest works of God's salvation of the israelites from the egyptians. recall with me - the israelites flee from the egyptians, cross the parted red sea (this is a huge group of people to move, around a million), and the pursuing egyptians die as God un-parts the red sea on top of them. in exodus 15, the israelites are singing praise to God, dancing with crazy excitement. then, THREE DAYS LATER, the israelites have forgotten what God just did. they're complaining. why does this happen to us so very much? we see God's glory, and yet we turn away from him so quickly.

or, the shifting of our vision could be slightly less direct, but in some ways much more deadly. the greatest example of this that i have observed is busyness. God reveals himself to us in a powerful way, and our life is changed. then, we get busy. our eyes begin to look at other things as well as God. we still want to seek him, but we also have other things that we need to get done, or that we want to do as well. this is very dangerous, because often times we will have just enough of God to feel like he's still there, but we'll be so stagnant in our journey with him. we aren't really seeking him; he's just there, and it gives us a good feeling inside.


our tendency as human beings is to eventually fall into one of these patterns of life - whether it be moderate or extreme, for a long or short period of time. we fall. that's what it is impossible to live this life. it is so hard to follow him! i find myself constantly falling into one of these categories, or into something other than these that i just don't understand whatsoever. sometimes i don't desire God, and i don't know why except for a lack of faith.

something i have been saying lately to God is, "it's so hard, God. i want to, but i can't seem to desire you like you deserve, or to live how you want." tonight during worship at riot, i was realizing all of the things that i need to work on in my relationship with God. it was quite overwhelming! first of all, i need to think about him more, because if i really did love him then he'd be on my mind all the time. i need to spend more time with him, and really put a lot more effort into that time. i wanted to read through a few more books and just be consumed by the word of God. i need to be telling more people about Jesus, sometimes more directly. i need to be praying more for my school and for first priority and for my friends and for addie and for my church, etc. i need to pour into the lives of other people around me, helping them to know God better. ah, so OVERWHELMING! i can't possibly do all this stuff on my own. and, honestly, i don't know how i can do it all, period.

yet, there is hope, and oh, how much hope there is. haha, i'm smiling now. that means i'm happy when i write this. in contrast to the fact that this christian life ridiculously impossible, IT IS NOT ABOUT ME. really. that is the burden that Christ is talking about in matthew 11 when he says "come to me..." it is the burden of self. and, oh, how ironic in the world's eyes is it that in losing ourself to God and becoming a slave of righteousness, we are completely satisfied and sustained. we find true life, life as God inteneded, when we lose our life for God's sake. in my last blog, i talked about 2 peter 1:3, specifically about how God has given us everything we need for life. tonight, i'm talking about how God has provided everything we need for godliness in HIM.

its all about him. everything upon this earth points to him. nature does. our relationships do. the deepest parts of our hearts do. friends do. circumstances do. and, if we fix our eyes upon him, i strongly believe that everything will somehow fall into place. if he is the only thing that is in our vision, then good things are inevitably ahead. the problem is, it is with faith, which we lack so greatly, that we are able to "fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen." so, we pray for more faith. and God ever-so faithfully grants this request to us. all we have to do is to continue to call to him as we go through life. there's ups and downs. we fall too often, but God's right there to lift us back up if we ask for him to.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jsus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."
hebrews 12:2

it is him who we must fix our eyes upon, because he is the one who brings our faith to perfection. and, as we look at him, the things of this earth slowly grow "strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace."