Eyes on You

When even the sunrise 
is muted by gray, 
the air polluted 
and blackened by carbon, 
there is one place 
where I can play, 
breathing in air 
that is free from dirt, 
a place where my heart-hurts 
fade away— 
here beside you, 
finding a way 
to gradually lay 
each major worry, 
each broken hope 
on the palms of your hands.
 
You stretch them out,
your arms of power
with soft healing balm
poured onto me,
gently soothing
my fractured thoughts,
transforming them into
firm understanding
that all my hope
is truly in you.
You are my judge,
and their judge too;
I cannot see the ultimate scope
of what you are planning,
of what you will do.

I breathe your air.
There is no dark
pollution here.
And you will help me
persevere, eyes on you
and the final goal,
when you make all things
whole.

When I opened the door to venture out into the predawn air this morning, rain was sprinkling everything and the sun was struggling to send at least some light through the clouds. I walked, thinking about the words that Jesus has been underlining for me:

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. (Heb. 12:1,2 NIV)

That challenge comes right after Hebrews 11 with its review of characters in Scripture that model faith for us. Now, the race is ours!

The Word does not tell us that it will be easy, like a vacation run on the beach in bright sunlight. Instead it warns us that first we have to get rid of whatever might slow us down or even make us trip and fall. That could be distractions. It could be addictions. It might even be gluttony—eating more than we need, or longing constantly for what we think might satisfy us. It might be doing what we know is against the race rules.

Instead, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus.  When we do that, it is like breathing fresh pure air in spite of the smog that might be surrounding us in this world. Looking at him and listening to his plans for us, contemplating his preparation of eternal joy, we can find solid hope that is way more than just wishful thinking. He himself had his heart fixed on that joy of completing his kingdom’s sovereign rule, so he endured the cross. The cross was brutal suffering, but it was suffering he he knew was necessary for accomplishing his purpose for us. So he did it. He offered his body to the spitters, the beaters, the hammers and the nails of shameful murder. It was excruciating, but he did it. And as a result he opened the way for us to be made new, to join the race-runners:  he came back to life and reigns forever!

He is our hero, our example. When we take our focus off the darkness of the world we live in and turn our eyes toward him, gluing them in place, we know that he will see us through to that end goal: joy! We cannot get there on our own. We need our coach, the one guiding us through the turning points, the storms, the smoke and the ruts in the road. Breathing his pure air—his Spirit within us—we have health and stamina to keep running the race. Without his presence we are just not strong enough. Resting our thoughts in his love, we can navigate through the pollution that wants to contaminate all our thinking and turn our eyes away from him.

This enduring relationship gives us soul freedom, a safe place to pray, to play his game and praise his name: Yeshua my Rescuer, Jesus!