Missing Out

As a kid, I distinctly remember hoping that Jesus didn’t return before certain milestones had been reached in my life.

  • – I wanted to be an adult.
  • – I wanted to be married.
  • – I wanted to be a mom.

While I knew intellectually that Christ’s return would fill me with great joy, I felt that I would be missing out on other things if He returned “prematurely” – at least from my perspective. It was as if I put the joy of Christ’s return into a “spiritual” category and while I knew it would be great, it wouldn’t be like all those other things.

And I was right.

Sort of.

The joy of Christ’s return won’t be like all those other things – it will be so much greater. It’s in such a different category of wonderfulness that it can’t even be compared to those good things on this Earth that I so cherish. I neglected to see that those things, while good, are poor representations of how good it will be when I am with my Savior. I shouldn’t be wanting those things, and then Christ’s return. Instead, I should be focused on the day that I’m with Him.

In truth, regardless of when I see Him, whether because He returns or because He calls me home, there will doubtless be things on this Earth that I was looking forward to. But I won’t be feeling the pain of missing those things. Instead, what I will be  “missing out” on are the sorrows of this world, the sin that so easily entangles, and relationships that while good, are subject to fractures. And I will be celebrating the dearth of these things and rejoicing in their antithesis. The things that I am “missing out” on will be cause for joy. And I will experience the greater joy of being with my King.

And ultimately, that’s what I should be looking forward to anyway.

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Eyes Up

If you think about it, we spend a lot of time with our eyes in a downward position.

– When we’re sleeping

– When we’re praying

– When we’re laughing (for some of us)

– When we’re crying.

A lot of these times, the direction of our eyes signifies the focus of our hearts.

We’re sleeping to get the rest we need.

We’re praying to ask God for what we want.

We’re laughing at something that brings us joy.

We’re crying at something that brings us pain.

Not that these things are bad. After all, God graciously created our bodies so that we would rest. He obviously wants us to pray. At the same time, while doing these things often puts our eyes in a downward position, we are often encouraged in Scripture to lift our eyes up (See Psalm 121:1 for example.). Not to put the focus on the things of the world, but to lift them higher – to see where our Help to deal with the things of this world comes from. When we lift up our eyes to consider God and what He’s doing, our focus is no longer on ourselves. It’s on how He’s working, what He’s accomplishing and how He is using our lives for His glory. We see that we can not make it on our own and we need His help in order to do the things that He has called us to do.

And in another, very real way, lifting our eyes up shows that we anticipate that God will intervene. It’s a sign of expectation for what He will do, even if He has not done it yet. It demonstrates our reliance on His timing, even when it differs from our own.

Lifting our eyes up means our eyes as well as our hearts are focused on Him.

Right where they should be.

 


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