By Hey there! Just wanted to stop you and say Happy Thursday, and remind you that you’ve made it this far! It’s Friday Jr. which means you’ve made it over half of the week. I know life can be busy, demanding, and stressful, and if no one has told you recently you are doing a great job!
❁
Have you ever been through a trying situation you never thought you’d make it through? Or been so down and out that you couldn’t see the light of day? If that’s you, then this blog post is for you.
A few weeks ago I had a dream, and in my dream I was walking up a set of stone stairs that led to a cliff side. As I ascended the stairs, I heard a voice urge me to do something that sounded kind of strange at first. It said, “Keep your eyes on the rock.”
Upon hearing this, I was slightly confused but decided to do it anyway. So as I continued climbing the stairs, I heard another voice coming from behind me. The only difference was that this time the voice wasn’t talking to me, but to another person who had just entered the area at the bottom of the steps. The voice spoke to the person, telling them to keep an eye on me and then to take me captive into their custody when I took my eyes off the rock to come back down.
Uh, creepy..
However, I wasn’t afraid. Although the person and the voice that spoke to him had such a dark presence surrounding them, I knew I would be okay so long as I kept my eyes on the rock.
With that, I reached the top and literally got so close to the rock and kept my eyes fixed on the rock so much so that I couldn’t see anything else. I knew that the person was behind me waiting for me to take my eyes off so that he could capture me, but in keeping my eyes on the rock I felt safe and secure; as long as I stared at the rock I would be free from the clutches of the evil that lurked behind.
There’s a similar story in the Bible that this dream reminded me of. It comes from Matthew 14, and it’s the story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter walking out to meet Jesus.
In that passage, Peter found himself in the middle of a storm. The storm was a violent one, with strong wind and waves. Then Peter saw Jesus walking on the water in the middle of the storm.
Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” “Yes, come,” Jesus said. (Matthew 14:28-29 NLT)
So over the side of the boat Peter went. He started out great, keeping his eyes on Jesus, but then he got distracted by what he felt and saw. He could feel the shove of the wind and the violent waves of water as they hit against him. He got distracted by what he was feeling in the moment that he took his eyes off of Jesus… and that’s when Peter began to sink.
See the similarities in the story and the dream?
When we take our eyes off of Jesus, that’s when we start to go down a different path that we don’t want to go on, and neither does God. When Peter took his eyes off of Christ, that’s when he began to sink. In my dream, if I were to have taken my eyes off of the rock, I would have been taken captive.
When we take our eyes off of Jesus, that’s when we’ll be susceptible to the attacks of the enemy. Listen, the enemy comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), so he will do everything in his power to get us discouraged or distracted to take our eyes off of Jesus. Distractions can look like the death of a loved one or it can look like the highs in life; we can be distracted by what we see and feel in the natural, whether good or bad.
We need to keep our eyes on Jesus… Keep our eyes on the Rock. Those things that come along, whether it be trials like financial trouble or uncomfortable situations, or whatever it may be, we need to be sure that we keep our eyes on the Rock or we will be taken captive by those situations.
Jesus is our Rock, and He will be an anchor for us when the storms of life come. He will be the source of our joy and strength in those hard times. So although things may be hard and bleak, we can trust that God will always be right there with us through it all. As long as we fix our gaze and focus on Him, He will bring us through those trying circumstances.
In that, we can have hope that He will bring us out of our trials and onto the other side (stronger than you went in, I may add), and that Jesus will give us joy in strength to get us through.
We can have hope even in the midst of the trying times.
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27 )
“… The joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10 )
Stay strong in the Lord, my friend.
Caleigh
An adventurer and coffee enthusiast at heart, Caleigh Ball has a passion for reaching out to others to inspire them to live with intention and purpose. As an ordained minister, she spends her time ministering as a youth pastor and is actively involved in Arise Ministries as the vice president and bookkeeper as well as one of the ministers. She enjoys life with her husband, Emmanuel, and their cat, Alaska, in their home state, Almost Heaven West Virginia.
Find Caleigh on Instagram at @caleigh.ball
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