Fix your eyes
I distinctly remember the first time someone shared 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 with me. I was 14 years old and doing my first real interview with a college basketball player at UNC, Steve Hale. Steve had experienced an injury that was affecting his ability to play, and he told me this passage helped him put things in perspective. Ever since that time, when I hear or read this verse, I think of Steve.
As a 14 year old, I understood the verse in a certain way, but it was a limited perspective. At 14, I did not see myself wasting away outwardly - or truly being renewed inwardly day after day.
Before my recent surgery, my dad also sent this same passage to me. And I thought about these verses in a completely different light. I am keenly aware that this body of mine is wasting away day by day, but I am just as aware that my heart continues to grow ever more fond of the Maker who designed it. And I truly believe there is an eternal weight of glory ahead.
It’s interesting indeed how the truths of Scripture hit differently at different times in life, in different circumstances, but their relevance remains the same.
People have repeatedly asked me if I am “really” okay, how I am “really” doing, and “how is your heart”? I am sure there are struggles ahead, but until this point, I can truly say, “It is well” - not because everything is good, not because I am denying the realities I am facing, not because I have any assurance that this path will end in healing, but because God, in His mercy, is enabling me to fix my eyes on more than today, to fix my eyes on the purpose in the pain.
Yesterday a sweet friend came to me before the 9 a.m. gathering at The Bridge and expressed that this blog has encouraged her. It is in moments like this that I can see the Lord is designing a purpose in this suffering for His glory, that He is writing a story beyond what I have the ability to write on my own, that He is helping me fix my eyes on the things I cannot see. I can have confidence I will see these things of eternal value as I continue to gaze in the right direction.
I am reminded of the words of the old hymn:
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.”
