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“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.  Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV)

The past few months I’ve been globe-trotting while keeping my feet on the ground, courtesy of a social media site called View From My Window.  People all over the world post pictures of what’s outside their window: beautiful scenery, curious animals, and other marvelous wonders I’ve never seen before.  It’s a simple yet profound exercise that brings such joy, especially during a time when traveling is a little harder than normal.

I’ve found myself paying more attention to what’s outside my window, trying to capture life’s busy and beautiful moments in a single photo.  A picture can speak a thousand words!   While it’s not always easy to find time to search for beauty, I am reminded of God’s goodness to me each time I shift my view away from myself and turn towards my creator.

Satan loves it when we only have eyes for ourselves, when we stay inside our heads, and when we focus only on our problems.  When life is difficult, busy, or even just boring, we have a tendency to hunker down and turn inward.  I’ve had seasons in my life where I’ve buried myself in my own valley of despair, becoming blind to the mountaintops I could climb- and the views I would see- if I would just shift my focus to Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2-3 gives us a great blueprint for adjusting our focus:

“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. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

The author of Hebrews was reminding his readers to press on in the faith, using Jesus as the ultimate example of endurance.  There are three truths we can take from these verses:

1. If we turn our eyes towards Jesus, we naturally take our focus off ourselves.
2. Jesus endured so much for the sake of Christianity, and He set a great example for us as we go through our own valleys.
3. When we focus on Jesus, we won’t grow weary or lose heart.

What is outside your window?  If we only see our struggles, we can lose the ability to see anything else.  God’s goodness is all around, but we might miss it if our focus is not on Jesus. Oh, the views we could see if we look through the God’s window!

“Lord, give us eyes to see you.  May we make it a habit to focus on Christ instead of on our trials.”

For His Glory

Aubrey Carrales
TRBC Women’s Life