05. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus -- Not Alone

(Photo by Tara Gourley)

"O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior,
And a life more abundant and free!"
As I write these words, I am alone at a table in a loud cafe. It is a cross between feeling lonely and over-crowded. I think it is the perfect atmosphere for this particular study.
5) Am I alone? (you know the tale)
It is easy to feel like I am. But feelings are often deceiving. To be specific, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) After a statement like that, how can we possibly stand to trust our feelings? Are we so easily deceived? I would dare say it is so. In a tight situation, most of us would trust our feelings more than our head knowledge. It is why we have so many irrational fears, I would think. We know perfectly well that a little daddy-long-leg can't harm us, but when one runs across our path, we lose hold on reality and (some of us; not all) scream in fear or shock. In the same way, when we are by ourselves in a room, or on our own in a crowd, we get overwhelmed by our emotions, and we fail to think rationally. We become so artificially isolated that we are convinced it is real. We begin to be troubled, and it wearies us, until the world around us feels so terribly, incurably dark. So what do we do? As I've found is often the case, the answer lies within the lyrics to this hymn. No place is to dark for God to shine through. Light has more power than darkness, no matter how oppressive it may seem. "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5) That verse. Ever since I memorized it, I can't get it out of my head. That makes sense, but it also kind of blows my mind.
Moving on.
"Through death into life everlasting
He passed and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion--
For more than conquerors we are!
His word shall not fail us -- He promised;
Believe Him and all will be well,
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!"
Those words: He promised. I can't get over them. It would be self-destructive to even try to do so! He promised. He promised us eternal life. He promised us freedom from sin. He promised not to fail us. He promised, and that is all the assurance we should need! And He is with us always, so we are never ever alone!
"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."

What more do we need? Honestly!
What a promise!

(P.S. This is the last post I will publish at my current age -- what will He do next?!)

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May this place be a home and a haven.

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