Focus on what you can’t see!
by Jilly Lyon-Taylor
Many of you are facing problems today – concerns over employment, finance and provision; difficulties with family and relationships; issues with inner hurts, pain or depression; struggles with sickness, and physical problems. Often these things loom so large in the fore-front of our minds that it’s difficult to think of anything else.
But in today’s verse the Apostle Paul urges us not to focus on what’s seen, those difficulties and issues that we’re facing today, but to fix our eyes on what’s unseen. What’s unseen is the utter faithfulness of God as revealed in His word – that He chose each one of us before He created the world (Ephesians 1:4); that we have been adopted into His family (Ephesians 1:5); that He’s our Father (2 Corinthians 6:18); that His love for us is lavish and unfailing (1 John 3:1); that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5); that He will always provide for us (Philippians 4:19); that He’s our Healer (Isaiah 53:3-5), and that He’s the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).
All of these statements (and many more) are true for every believer in Jesus Christ, but the outworking of them isn’t always automatic in our lives. We’re told that “no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20). So we need to keep coming back to the finished work of Jesus on the Cross to appropriate God’s promises in each area of our lives, and we do that by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Whatever difficult circumstances you’re facing today, they’re temporary compared to the eternal nature of God and His promises to you in Christ. Will you choose today to fix your eyes ‘not on what is seen, but on what is unseen’? The more we can focus on those unseen things, the more they’ll become true in our experience.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Forgive me for spending so much time focusing on my problems and my pain. I choose today to fix my eyes on the unseen truths contained in Your promises. Thank You that these are eternal. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Jilly Lyon-Taylor is part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Pierrepont. She worked in publishing and then with children in Hong Kong before concentrating on being a full-time mother and serving in the local church. Her desire to see people healed led her to the Luke Nine Eleven Training Scheme(NETS) at Pierrepont, and now she teaches and ministers there.
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