I have struggled with knowing how to let go of the chains that weighed me down for years. I have been plagued by my own emotions and insecurities for nearly my entire life. I thought I’d never find the answer and I would never find redemption from these things that tear my heart from Christ. I honestly gave up. Jesus doesn’t give up, though. And the answer sought me instead.
I accidentally ran into a verse in my high school sunday school class one time. It was focused on an entirely different verse in that passage, but my heart clung to it. It said one of the most profound things I’ve ever heard: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart.” (The namesake of this blog, actually!) That verse is found just two verses after one of the most profound passages in the Bible, quoted time and time again, that says “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11 has followed me almost my entire life. When I was in the 1st grade, my mom decorated my school bag with it, promising it over me and my life. As far as I can remember, first grade was pretty easy, I didn’t have many worries or insecurities as a six-year old. However, life after first grade was harder. I fell to insecurities and worries and I learned to hide myself behind a mask so that others wouldn’t know me. For years I was shackled to chains that kept me from seeing and living out my purpose in Him. I lived in the shadow of my own fear. I heard the voice of Christ try to tell me to drop the shackles that chained me to such earthly things, but I had no idea how to undo these chains that gripped me so tightly and tied me down.
What I began to learn was that all of these worries, insecurities, anxieties, chains, and shackles were centered around looking down at the world around me. Looking at the ground is devastating. There's cracks in the concrete, messy dirt that gets tracked in the house, and things that need to be swept away. Looking down at the world around us is damaging to our faith and trust in Him. I've looked down for my entire life. But one day, grace took a shot at me and knocked me out of the funk that kept my head looking at the pavement. For the first time in my life, Jesus’ hand reached for my head and gently pushed my chin to look up.
When we begin to stretch our necks toward Him and LOOK UP, no longer do the chains and shackles of our earth hold our heads to focus on the things that plague us. If we focus on Him, we find somewhere to place our trust. If we focus on His faithfulness, we will build our house on the rock- because He is a solid foundation. All other ground is sinking sand. But if we are focused on the ground and the things around our feet, our necks become a target for the enemy to hold down.
Look up instead.
So when the epidemics come, the money stops rolling in, you look at yourself in the mirror and hate what you see, or the comparison game starts rolling in the back of your head, remember to look up. Place your focus on the one thing that will never change. When we look up, we begin to see the fruits of the plan that the Lord promises for us in Jeremiah 29:11. However, the way to trust Him in His plan even when it gets hard is to seek Him. When we consistently look and focus upon Him and His truth instead of the truth of the world, it’s like the hymn says:
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
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