Don’t Look Away

Last Updated on May 3, 2023

Day after day we move through the moments doing what we are called to do. We get up, our feet hit the floor, and we push ahead. We choose where our thoughts will go, what we will focus on, and the lens we will view life through.

Moment by moment.

I don’t know if we completely understand what it means to find our joy in God until the things that have become the source of our joy change, or are taken away for awhile. Until we are caught up in the daily grind, and feel like we have little or nothing to focus on … but God. This is the time that we begin to realize we have been unfaithful in many ways: loving the gifts He has lavished upon us, the opportunities to work for Him, the callings we have been given.

But not really loving just HIM.

There are times when we find ourselves sitting in the quiet of perceived loss—loss of hopes and dreams, ideals, and purpose—and our minds become desperate for something to focus on. Desperate for something to find joy in. We cry. Of course we cry when we experience change and there is a feeling of emptiness.

It’s okay to cry.

If we calm our mind and heart we will find ourselves looking into the face of God. Don’t look away! It is in this moment that we will begin to get a glimpse of what it means to find our joy in God … if we will allow it to happen. It is in this rare moment that God will show more of who He is, and we will be carried to a realm higher than we imagined. One that we could not have reached without His help …

One we could have not reached if we had not experienced change and loss.

We must force ourselves to grab hold of these moments and make them a part of who we are. Embrace the pain of change and loss, and drink in the fresh revelation of God. We must force ourselves to focus on Him alone, and begin to thank Him. Rejoice in Him alone.

Only then will we begin to experience the reality of what it means to find our joy in God. We will be given a heart that finds joy in the One who paid our debt and freed us from condemnation. Our roots will grow deeper. We will experience a calm in the change and loss, and learn to praise the One who wrote our name in the book of life. Don’t look away!

I never want to look away…