I’ve spent most of this year talking about the importance of focusing your eyes on Jesus. From the moment that I prayed and asked God if He had anything to say about 2020, the idea that He wanted to increase His people’s vision as we learned to fix our eyes on Him, has been at the center of what I have sensed that He is doing.
Over the past few months the message has become more refined. Passages of Scriptures about “living in the light of His face” has really stood out to me. In fact, I had recently shared this message on Labor Day as I had been invited to share at a weekend-long retreat for worship leaders. I invited a young husband to come and illustrate the ongoing gaze of our bridegroom, Jesus. It was fun for me to role-play and talk about all of the reasons that seemed to make sense for me to look at the things that are happening around me, instead of getting lost in the gaze of Perfect Love.
Is there anything that is worth taking my eyes off of Jesus?
As I asked this question, I was thinking of the difficult circumstances and other types of distractions that my audience may face. I had no idea that I was getting ready to come face-to-face with this own reality myself.
As we began our drive home from Ohio that night, every phone in the car began to go off with tornado warnings. Quickly, we began to search for somewhere that we could shelter in place. After being turned down by several hotels (there was no room in the inn because of COVID restrictions) we found refuge at St. Arbucks. The severity of the storm and the fear that it caused in the employees made me think of how easy it can be to take our eyes off of Jesus in the middle of the storm.
Once the storm had passed, we thanked our Starbucks friends and got back on the road. Everything seemed fine until we hit one intense thunderstorm cell. As I drove through the wind and rain, I was thankful that we had found a safe place to stay when the worst of the storm was passing over. Then, all of a sudden, everything lit up. Bright White! It was all that I could see in front of me and it filled me periphery. Immediately, a loud clap of thunder seemed to come from my back seat.
My Apple Watch began to freak out, telling me that every one of my exercise goals had been achieved in that moment. I was startled as I checked on the others who were in the car with me to make sure they were okay. The rest of our drive was uneventful and I was happy to be home late that night to rest up and get ready for the week.
When I woke up the next morning, the vision in my left eye was blurry. One of my co-workers encouraged me to take the day and rest and I felt confident that everything would be okay when I woke up the next day. But when I woke up, the vision in my left eye was no better and now my right eye was also blurry. I could feel my heart racing as I began to ask myself if I was losing my vision.
Over the next week I saw an eye doctor and a retina specialist. Neither could explain the connection between the lightning strike and what they were seeing in my eyes. As I laid in a dark room getting prepped for an injection in each eye, I closed my eyes and asked God that this trial that I was facing with my physical sight would not be the thing to cause me to lose my focus on Jesus.
I am so thankful for everyone who has reached out to let me know they are praying for me. Many have commented on the irony of my vision struggles in light of the messages that I have been preaching about fixing my eyes on Jesus. I have assured these friends that the irony is not lost on me, and that this experience has only helped me to see more clearly the importance of seeking His face.
In May we launched Fewl.Live and I was overwhelmed as the Holy Spirit regularly showed up in the middle of simple conversations with friends to shine light on what it looks like to follow Jesus and make disciples. Each week, people would reach out to me with testimonies and stories of how God was using these online digital roundtables to deeply impact their lives.
This Monday, I am excited to launch the second season of Fewl.Live believing that God will continue to show up, and bring clarity to our vision as we turn our attention and our affection on Him. I am more convinced now than ever before that there is no better place for me to point people than to the actual life of Jesus to see their own lives powerfully transformed.
Over the last week, my vision is improving and I feel confident that my eyesight will be completely restored. Walking through this scary situation has made me even more passionate about fixing my eyes on One Thing: beholding His Beauty.
I personally invite you to sign for Fewl.Live today and join me and my friends over the next 12 weeks as we look at Jesus together.
Please don't miss out on this!
