Do You TRUST Me? (Part Two)
Keep your eye on the ball…
Our first reflection in this series looking at the overall theme of Trust, gave us the foundation reminder that trust begins with letting go and letting God take control. Then as we submit our lives, our questions, our uncertainties and our hopes to the one that knows the future, He is the one that forms, enlightens and makes straight our paths.
Our second reflection in this series now takes us from Foundation to Focus and where our focus is, is critical.
“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.” Hebrews 12: 1-3 (NIV)
Our focus simply needs to be fixed on Jesus. But have you noticed how easily our focus becomes “unfixed” on Jesus? Maybe it’s our circumstances that have caused it, maybe it’s our tiredness or as I mentioned last time, our uncertainty. Maybe we are lacking hope, we are in pain, in sickness or struck down with worry. Whatever it is, there are plenty of things that cause us to lose focus and as a result, struggle to trust.
For several years when my kids were younger I used to coach their football (soccer) teams. One of the key skills they needed to learn was how to head the ball. Making sure they kept their eye on the ball the whole time was critical to perfecting the skill and if they failed to do it, they would either miss the ball completely, or even worse, have the ball hit them right in the face.
Keeping your eye on the ball is a phrase we often use in life as well. When we take our eye off the goal or the target and we lose focus for even just a short time and our eyes get distracted by other things around us, we can get into trouble.
I’m sure many of you have passed through or even made the stop in Karangahake Gorge when visiting Tauranga and maybe enjoyed a picnic with the family by the river as well as a wander into the old railway tunnels nearby.
Big old railway tunnels like that can be fun to walk in to and explore. I remember heading into one of them with the kids a number of years ago and it was interesting that the happy chatter and excitement that came from us all as we entered the tunnel, very soon gave way to quiet nervousness and almost silence as we got further and further in and the light behind us, became as small as the light ahead. Suddenly the darkness around us became the main focus, as well as the cold and suddenly fear began to creep in.
In that situation you are faced with a choice; to remain in the dark or to press on and keep focused on the goal which was the light ahead, that would bring us back out into the daylight. The wonderful thing is that when you do press on, trusting despite the cold and the dark around you, towards the light ahead, what happens to the light? The light begins to get bigger and bigger and the mood within you starts to get lighter and lighter as a result.
These verses here in Hebrews are a reminder to the followers of Jesus to keep our eyes fixed in the right place, on the the author and perfecter of our faith. The one who gives us the example to follow and the encouragement to keep going and just like being inside the railway tunnels, the more we focus on the light ahead (Jesus) and not the circumstances around us, the bigger the light of Christ becomes in our lives and in time begins to dispel the darkness.
A favourite worship song of mine over this last year or so has been the song Fight My Battles, and I love the lyric in the song that says - “it may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you.”
When our eyes are focused on Christ instead of the world around us, our perspective changes and we are reminded that even when we feel the situations we find ourselves in are overwhelming and are surrounding us on every side, that in that, we are surrounded by God and his truth, love and hope, which enable us to trust Him and keep going.
I love the quote by Corrie Ten Boon that sums this all up really well for me; “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”
Sometimes it’s not easy and sometimes as our passage reminds us, we need perseverance to keep going, to keep trusting and take the next step. Encouraged to keep our eye on the ball, trusting the engineer, our Saviour and King, the one who endured the cross for our shame and the one who has overcome the world…
Today, as you reflect on this passage, what is holding your focus right now?
Spend a few moments laying your life afresh before Jesus, the Light of the world and asking Him to be your focus.