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By Larry Short, Elder Chair
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.
(Lyrics & music by Helen Howarth Lemmel, 1863–1961)
I’m currently working my way through Isaiah during my daily reading time. At first it was fun, but along about chapter 10 the prophet begins to pronounce God’s judgment, and it’s not pretty. He singles out arrogant Assyria, Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Egypt, Dumah, Arabia, Tyre, Sidon . . . even the holy city of Jerusalem.
And then, in case anyone feels left out, in chapter 24 Isaiah presents God’s judgment against the whole earth:
Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants . . . the earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the Lord has spoken this word. (Isaiah 24:1, 3 ESV)
The rest of the chapter goes on to describe in chilling detail the disturbing events that will accompany this “emptying” judgment upon the earth for its sin: “Its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again” (v. 20).
Should I keep reading? I wondered. Could it possibly get any worse than this?
Thankfully, in chapter 25 we find a dramatic turnaround, as the prophet begins to praise God for His ultimate victory over sin—what Isaiah calls “plans formed of old, faithful and sure,” as God “has done wonderful things.” The culmination of victory comes when God “will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth” (Isaiah 25:8).
It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)
Encouraged, I continued reading into chapter 26, where this familiar verse jumped out at me:
You keep him in perfect peace
Whose mind is stayed on you,
Because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)
In the midst of all the turmoil and pain of God’s judgment poured out on a sinful world, it is possible to be “kept in perfect peace!”
When I had awoken this morning, before I read these words, I first checked the news. That’s not always a good idea. Pandemic deaths in the United States have topped 581,000, putting us on track to possibly equal or surpass deaths from the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. The death rate seems to be slowing, thanks to immunizations and other measures, but of course, as we know, things can change quickly.
If the pandemic news is bad for us, it’s equally bad, if not worse, for millions of others. In India, the pandemic is a terrible disaster right now, with numbers quickly catching up to ours. They’ve just surpassed 400,000 new cases per day, with over 246,000 total deaths. Most sick people can’t even get into a hospital or have access to oxygen, so many are asphyxiating on the streets. A pall of smoke from overworked crematoria hangs over many cities in India.
Other nations also struggle: the virus is ravaging Brazil, France, Russia, and Turkey, among many others. And the global economic damage is almost incalculable. In February alone, the world saw a loss of more than $50 billion in trading revenue.
And there is plenty of other dire news to cause despair, from violence in Jerusalem to a bombing outside an Afghan school that killed dozens of schoolgirls and seriously injured hundreds.
But . . . you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you!
What does it mean to “stay your mind” on God? I love the instruction in Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV):
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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
As we turn from our sin and the circumstances around us, the first gaze of the eyes of our hearts must be upon the face of our Savior, who has already won the battle that rages all around us. As we turn to Him, we offload the weight of the world around us, even that of our own sin!
We cannot ignore the world around us. Jesus Himself urged His disciples to lift up their eyes because the fields are white for harvest. Upon seeing the need of a hurting world, He had compassion for them, “because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” He responded by going throughout all the cities and villages, “teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.” And he calls His disciples to be co-laborers with Him in these fertile fields (Matthew 9:35-37).
Our Shepherd engaged with the suffering sheep of the world, but that engagement was rooted in “the joy that was set before him” and what was primary to Him, His relationship with His Father. As the compassion of Christ moves us to better reflect the heart of God for suffering people, how can we be the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting world?
Our Savior, who sweat great drops of blood as He faced the agony of the cross, knew what perfect peace looks like! And He offers that to us, in the midst of all the pain and turmoil, sin and suffering within and around us. Will we start each new day by turning our gaze upon Him?
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