Hi Friends,
I often joke that I have “spiritual ADD”! I can be fully immersed in prayer and praise one second, then immediately get whisked away by the slightest thing that calls for my attention. We get so easily distracted, don’t we?! But just like our eyes can turn quickly FROM the Lord, we can choose to refocus just as quickly. Here is a great prayer for this very thing:
“O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” 2Chron 20:12 NASB
Great multitudes come against us. This world is so loud and intrusive, isn’t it? In addition, we have so many responsibilities and duties, don’t we? And if all that wasn’t enough, often the demands of life seem to pull us in opposite directions. Do we listen to what our leaders are saying or do we follow common sense instead? Every day, great multitudes of choices are presented to us. But what if we humbled ourselves like King Jehoshaphat did in the reading above? What if we admitted we are powerless unless God comes to help us make our decisions? What if we confessed we just don’t know what to do? Would that revelation help us keep our eyes on God? Would it give us clarity and direction? Would that help us raise our perceptive to see situations like God sees them?
Lord, will You not judge them? We can trust God to judge our enemies, but we also need Him to judge our thoughts, words and deeds. Because we do not see all things, there is so much we cannot understand this side of Heaven. We need the Judge Who is Omniscient and clearly sees the end before the beginning, to help us make the choices required throughout our day. We need the Creator Who has already planned our lives, to direct our steps so that we can stay on a good path. We need the Gracious One Who will forgive us when we go astray, the Holy One Who will correct our mistakes, the Righteous One Who will set us back on the right path…we need God to judge our choices and our decisions. As we admit we are powerless apart from Him (see John 15:5), we will seek Him before making any choice and follow Him wherever He leads. But when we make a decision on our own and things don’t go well, we will seek God quickly and refocus our hearts on His Will as He gets us back on the right track. We learn to keep our eyes on Him…and reset them back on Him when they fall away.
Lord, keep our eyes on You. This is a major characteristic of a humble heart. We do not look to ourselves, we seek Jesus. We do not run to others, we run to the Word. We do not blindly rely on government, we become fully dependent on the King. This is not to say we should never trust ourselves, others or leaders, but we FIRST trust in the Lord of our lives. We look to Him before anyone else. We pray without ceasing, even when consulting our understanding, the wisdom of others or the experience of leaders. We pass everything we think, feel and will through God…this is how we keep our eyes on Him. We bring God into every thought, every emotion and every desire, trusting Him to show us what to do…or to do it for us. How many times have I been at this point in my life? I had a great “multitude” of problems come at me, but by His Grace, I chose to turn my eyes to God and He either fixed the situation, showed me how to fix it or taught me how to get beyond it. Peace, joy and righteousness quickly followed as I kept my eyes on the Lord. Want that? I sure do. Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
