Hymns: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

  

           I grew up listening to hymns…exclusively. “Back then” (because I’m old enough to use that phrase regularly now), hymns were the only songs used in congregational singing at church, and they were also what we listened to at home and on the radio.

            By junior high, I was ready to properly rebel against those “boring old songs,” and launched a personal initiative to bring in the modern tunes of Sandi Patty and Steve Green. I went through a multi-year period of resisting everything about the hymns I’d always known, but thankfully Bill Gaither saw fit to use them on the Gaither Homecoming recordings, and somehow when done Gaither-style, they held much more appeal to me. Before I even realized it, I was drawn to hymns again.

            I’ve come full circle now, and hymns are not only dear to me, but they are preferable to most current music. (Not all, but most.) I thought I would randomly share here some that are meaningful to me in this season of my life, and today is one of those days.

            Over the last year, the Lord has been teaching me so much about putting my focus on the things that He wants to matter most to me. I say it that way, because I believe He has different “things that matter most” for different people. I believe He places passions in our hearts that draw us toward the work He wants us to do in this world.

            But as He has worked in my heart on this subject, I keep coming back to the chorus of the hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.

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

            Even though the things that matter most to me from an earthly perspective might be different than the things that matter to you, what should matter most to both of us is a full view of the Face of Jesus.

            God has been teaching me to “look full in His wonderful face” by showing me I can see Him all around me. When Ryan and I were in Florida for our anniversary, I stood on the shore, day after day, with my eyes closed, just listening to waves crashing against earth. I felt the wind blowing my hair, buried my toes in cold, wet sand, and I looked full in His wonderful face. I opened my eyes and saw pointy palm leaves tossing in the wind, birds scampering effortlessly down the beach, and the sunshine darting in and out of clouds, and I looked full in His wonderful face. I met people created by the same God Who created me, celebrated the love I share with Ryan, and I looked full in His wonderful face.

            In those moments, the things of earth grew dim. Lists grew dim. Obligations grew dim. Everything grew dim in the light of His glory and grace. And that is my prayer for this month, especially. There are many things of earth clamoring for my attention. They are good, worthy, and sometimes necessary things. I’m certainly not about to ignore them entirely. But my prayer is that their claim over my attention will dim in comparison to the glory and grace of God and His love.