Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus

Facing Life’s Challenges

Throughout the difficult times in our lives, we find it hard to see past the day at hand. When my dad passed away, months passed before I could think of anything other than his loss. When my son received the diagnosis of Graves Disease, I struggled to think of anything beyond his wellbeing.

While I battled Lyme Disease, it played such a large role in my life that I could not imagine a time when I would be free from it. The constant medications, the physical pain, and the doctor’s appointments were all I could see. We all face times in our lives when we don’t understand what God is doing, but for most of us, in time, we can move forward.

Jacob And Pharoah

At the end of Genesis, we find a somewhat humorous scene. Jacob and his entire family move to Egypt during the famine. When they arrive, Joseph is preparing them to meet Pharoah. Joseph tells them what Pharoah will ask and how they are to answer. As the reader, you can imagine this rehearsal scene unfolding.

Joesph ends up taking five of the brothers and his father, Jacob, to Pharoah. The brothers respond as instructed, but oh Jacob. He goes in and begins blessing Pharoah and Pharoah asks, “How old are you?” You can imagine Pharoah looking at old decrepit Jacob, humped over holding his staff, and asking this question.

The answer to this question is what I want to focus on here. Remember, Jacob is the third generation of the family God chose to carry on His covenant. This is something to celebrate. God did amazing things in the life of Abraham because Abraham kept his eyes focused on God. He did falter and try to do things his own way, but then returned his focus to God. That is not what we find here with Jacob.

Jacob could have said, “God has blessed me for a hundred and thirty years and has chosen my family to carry on His covenant. God has blessed me with many children and fulfilled all the promises he made to me. He has rescued me from my enemies and shown me great favor.” Unfortunately, this is not how he responds.

He responds to Pharoah’s question with, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers” (Genesis 47:9-10).

Jacob’s One Love

Jacob had one love in his life, and that was Rachel. Rachel held his whole heart. He gave none of the other wives any love and I believe we could say Rachel held a higher position for Jacob than God. Jacob’s joy was based on Rachel.

When she died, he never recovered. He only focused on the pain of his loss and never got past it. As you read through Jacob’s story, you find heartache, sadness, and a man who only focuses on his loss. You see this pattern repeat itself, when Jacob believes he lost Joseph, his first son with Rachel.

As I read this, I thought of the times in my life when I could not see past the pain or loss to what God wanted to do. It’s normal to do this for a while. We are human and hard things cause us pain. But my question is, what are we going to do with that pain?

We can be like Jacob and get stuck there, or we can refocus our eyes on God and on the things He wants to accomplish in our lives. Jacob had an amazing opportunity to share with Pharoah all that God had done in his life, but instead he shared his struggle.

From Pain To Purpose

When we are around others, even when life is not going the way we hoped, we can share what good God has done through our trials. Think about the last trial you faced. When someone asked you a question about it, did you answer with a negative or with a positive?

I wish I could say I got this right all the time when people asked me about Lyme Disease. There were hard days, very hard days, but I tried to keep my eyes focused on what He would do with this difficult time.

Before I got sick, I had the opportunity to travel to the middle east. I heard stories from refugees that made you wonder how they survived to tell about it. As hard as these stories were to hear, I believe they prepared me for what I would face when I got home. Nothing I faced with Lyme Disease compared to the tragedies the people I met endured.

They had shared their stories not with negativity, but with the joy of what God had done for them and how He had rescued them. This perspective helped me on my darkest days to remember God was not finished with me yet. He still had a plan and I needed to cling to Him in all things.

Fixing Your Eyes On Jesus

Whatever it is you are facing remember God can use even your hardest days to share His light with the world. Keep your eyes forever on Him. Remember Hebrews 12:1-2, “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.” (NIV).

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