Excruciating pain! I sat in the emergency room of our local hospital, waiting for a doctor… in terrible pain. The ONLY thing that took my pain away was Jesus.
In my mind I placed myself at the feet of Jesus and I whispered His name over and over and over again. If my focus strayed from the face of Jesus even for a second the pain threatened to drown me.
On this rainy Monday morning I was reminded of this experience as I read these verses in David’s Psalm 16.
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, [c]
nor will you let your Holy One [d] see decay.
11 You have made [e] known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
I am reminded that the key to real and lasting joy is my focus on my Lord Jesus. Verse 8 says, “I have set the Lord always before me.” This verse implies a very pro-active choosing of the place I am going to give the Lord in my life today. Where did I set Jesus when I got up this morning?
When Jesus is my focus, when I purposefully set Him before me I can deal with the things that I struggle with and not be shaken. I always have a reason to rejoice and my body rests secure when my eyes are trained on Jesus who knows and loves me. He walks with me on this life’s path. Life with its struggles and joys are put in proper perspective when my eyes are on Him.
I thank the Lord for that painful time during which He so literally demonstrated to me how important my focus on Him is and how very necessary.
Is Jesus Christ truly Lord of your life? Is He your focus today? Fix your eyes only on Him. There is so much joy in His presence!
