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Spiritual Eyes Wide Open

How do you refocus your eyes back on Jesus when you experience blurred spiritual vision? Sometimes it is a fight. Keeping our spiritual eyes wide open takes intentionality and consistency.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Spiritual Eyes Wide Open—Focus

My eyes’ ability to focus on what is right in front of me has waned. When I turned 40, the ‘magic age’ for reading glasses, I did not need them. My future as a graying woman constantly losing her ‘readers’ seemed far away. The time came, however, when lightly magnified reading glasses became my reality.

My aging eyes lack clear focus. If I’m not careful, my spiritual eyes become challenged as well. The magnification of Scripture is necessary every day to maintain right focus in my life. We see in our focus verse the race called ‘life’, is marked out clearly for us by fixing our eyes on Jesus. How do we accomplish this successfully? For me, it’s putting on my readers, and opening the Bible with a healthy dose of unceasing prayer.

Spiritual Eyes Wide Open—Informed By the Past

Let’s peer into my recent past and see how my family accomplished fixing our eyes on Jesus through a difficult event. For my birthday, I signed up five family members to finish a virtual relay race. We each completed one of five different races designed for adults. Two of the portions, completed by children, greatly challenged us. I followed my 10-year old niece, Gracie, on a bike as she completed a 3-mile run. She ran on a smooth, paved path for the first 2.5 miles.  Then we veered off-path to a grassy, rocky trail and finished up a steep jaunt.

I received a video message later in the day. My niece recorded a song she composed to herself as she ran and became weary. I rocked out with my girls to her chorus, “Pray-ay-ay, ay-ay-ay-ay.” Little did we know how quickly we needed the song again.

A few days later, my son and I accompanied my 8-year old, who runs like a gazelle, on her 2-mile cross country run. We scouted out the starting line. A gentle slope descended to a trail lined with pops of summer blooms. It appeared easy. But as we ran, it didn’t take long to see the trail wind up a steep hill.

Spiritual Eyes Wide Open—Enabled By Prayer

Half-way up, with no water to quench our thirst, tears spilled out from my daughter’s eyes. We needed a different sort of 911. I called my niece who awaited our finish to cheer us on. I relayed the message, “Emergency! We need the prayer song – STAT!” She and my sister sang it out for us as we continued the climb. “Just Pray-ay-ay-ay!” Finally, we focused off of the heat and the incline and onto our God who gave us the strength to get this far. We hung up, blasted “Overcomer” by Mandisa, and finished strong.

With the stress of the times we currently live in, distraction overtakes us easily. Focus on God’s Word, with a healthy dose of prayer, is a helpful way to affix our eyes in the right place.

Guest Post by Jenny Elwood

Jennifer Elwood is a wife, mother, and student of the Bible who enjoys blogging stories of Jesus-driven spiritual transformation.

Visit Jenny at her blog: www.jenniferelwood.com

 

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