I have this problem.  The older I get the worse it seems to get.  Without fail, I almost always have to get up between 2 and 4 AM, at least once to use the restroom.  I have tried to limit my fluid intake, but it doesn’t really seem to matter.  I know you are thinking, really this is what she has chosen to write about!  I do have a point, and it’s not just that I have bladder control issues.  Sometimes I have trouble getting back to sleep after this.  As soon as my feet hit the floor my mind starts moving.  Seriously it goes everywhere, making grocery lists, to do lists, etc..  When this happens I usually try to distract myself until I fall back to sleep.  So, this morning when this happened I started to compose my next blog in my head.  This isn’t it by the way.  God had a different idea.

Some of you might remember an old hymn we used to sing in church:  Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus. (I’m going to attempt to put a YouTube link at the bottom so you can listen to it).  Anyway, the lyrics to this song came to mind.  Since I can’t honestly remember the last time I heard or sang it, I knew it had to the Holy Spirit.  The lyrics just played over and over in my head until I fell back to sleep.

When I sat down to write the blog I had been thinking about at 2 AM, I quickly came to the realization that I should save that and write about this song.  I don’t know all the lyrics but the chorus goes like this:  “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look full at his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”  I started thinking about what it really meant to turn your eyes upon Jesus.  This may seem silly, but sometimes I like to look up the definitions of simple words, just to get another perspective on their meaning.  So that’s what I did with this song.

Turn- meaning to move or face a different direction.  To look at something different or from a different angle.  To change your perspective.  For me I knew this meant I needed to stop looking at myself and my agenda and get my focus back on God.  And not just a quick glance or glimpse.  The song says to look “full” at his wonderful face.  Full- meaning all the way, no distractions, no one else, only Jesus.  I like some of the dictionary definitions:  lacking restraint, enjoying all rights and privileges, not lacking, completely occupied; large enough to be satisfied.  I don’t know about you but that makes me think about this song in a completely different way.

The song goes on to say “the things of this earth grow strangely dim”.  At this point it seemed kind of obvious to me why that would be.  When we fully engage with our Savior and look at what He has done for us and what He is doing, it’s easy to allow all of our “things” to fade away!

“In light of His glory and grace.” – His glory, not mine.  And grace, seriously is there anything that even comes close to the grace of Jesus?  He took all my/our junk, paid the penalty due us and then went on to give us forgiveness, freedom and adoption into His eternal family!

What do you say we practice turning our eyes on Jesus today!