{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"4100 Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus","description":"\u201cTurn 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.\u201d \u2014 Helen H. Lemmel, 1922 Most of us know that moment. The ground beneath us feels less solid than it did yesterday. A diagnosis that changes everything. A relationship that fractures without warning. A door that closes with a finality we weren\u2019t prepared for. A season of waiting so long it begins to feel less like patience and more like abandonment. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the Kairos FREE Online Community. https:\/\/createyournow.com In those moments, the world offers noise \u2014 advice, distraction, hustle, worry. But Scripture offers something different. It offers a place to look. And what I want to explore today isn\u2019t a list of things you need to do when life gets hard. It\u2019s something better than that. It\u2019s what God does when you can\u2019t. He Goes In With You There\u2019s a passage in Isaiah 43 that I keep coming back to. God is speaking to Israel \u2014 a people worn down by exile and silence \u2014 and He says this: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you."  \u2014 Isaiah 43:1\u20132 Notice what He doesn\u2019t say. He doesn\u2019t say if you pass through the waters. He says when. God is not surprised by the season you\u2019re in. He knew it was coming long before you did. And the promise He makes isn\u2019t that you\u2019ll avoid the deep water \u2014 it\u2019s that He goes in with you. That is not a small thing. That is everything. He Moves Toward You in the Storm When the disciples were caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee, these were experienced fishermen \u2014 men who knew how bad a storm could get. And they were terrified. The boat was getting swamped. And then Jesus came walking across the water toward them and said: "Take courage! It is I. Don\u2019t be afraid."  \u2014 Matthew 14:27 He didn\u2019t say, \u201cHere\u2019s what you should do.\u201d He said, It is I. His presence was the answer. Not a strategy, not a plan, not a formula. Him. When you are in the storm and you can\u2019t do anything, God is not waiting for you to figure it out. He is already moving toward you. He Is Familiar With Your Pain One of the most stabilizing truths in all of Scripture is that Jesus didn\u2019t watch our suffering from a safe distance. He entered it. He wore it. "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain."  \u2014 Isaiah 53:3 Familiar. That word deserves to sit with you for a moment. Jesus is not unfamiliar with your fear. He is not unfamiliar with your grief, your betrayal, your sleepless nights, or your unanswered prayers. He wept at a tomb (John 11:35). He sweat drops of blood in the garden the night before He died (Luke 22:44). He cried out from the cross, \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d \u2014 and meant it in His body and His soul. So when you wonder whether God understands what this feels like \u2014 He does. He went there. He went all the way to the bottom of the dark. And He didn\u2019t stay there. The K.I.S.S. ~ Turn your eyes upon Jesus! He Guards What Fear Is Trying to Break Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians from prison. He didn\u2019t know how his story would resolve. And yet he testified to something that had nothing to do with his circumstances: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  \u2014 Philippians 4:6\u20137 Guard is a military word. It means to stand watch, to hold a position, to protect. Paul is saying that God\u2019s peace \u2014 not peace you manufacture, not peace that requires resolution first \u2014 will stand guard over the very place fear is trying to break in: your heart and your mind. And notice, this peace doesn\u2019t arrive when the circumstances change. It arrives in every situation. Including the one you\u2019re in right now. He Pioneered the Trail Through The writer of Hebrews was writing to a community under real pressure \u2014 people who had lost property, faced public shame, and were tempted to walk away from their faith entirely. His counsel wasn\u2019t a strategy. It was a direction: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."  \u2014 Hebrews 12:2 Pioneer. He went first. He blazed the trail through suffering and out the other side. He is not asking you to go somewhere He hasn\u2019t already been. And perfecter \u2014 He finishes what He starts. Your faith, your story, your life \u2014 none of it will be left half-done. He completes it. He Is With You. Always. The last words Jesus spoke before He ascended were not addressed to people who had everything figured out. They were spoken to a ragged, still-uncertain group of disciples who were still processing all of it. And He said this: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  \u2014 Matthew 28:20 Always. Not when your faith feels strong. Not when your circumstances cooperate. Not when you\u2019ve managed to pray the right words. Always. Right now, in whatever you\u2019re sitting in today. Isaiah 26:3 promises that God keeps in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast \u2014 those who keep looking at Him rather than rehearsing what they fear. Not because steadfastness earns peace, but because Jesus is genuinely worth looking at. And He doesn\u2019t look away from you. Whatever is unresolved in your life right now. Whatever is heavy. Whatever you\u2019ve been trying to fix and can\u2019t \u2014 He\u2019s already there. He\u2019s already working. He\u2019s already holding what you cannot hold. That is what it means to turn your eyes upon Jesus. Not to try harder. But to look up, and find that He has been looking at you the whole time.   \u201cI lift up my eyes to the mountains \u2014 where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.\u201d \u2014 Psalm 121:1\u20132 "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!"   #SweetSpirit #CreateYourNow #SoulfulSunday \ud83d\udd14 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the Kairos FREE Online Community. https:\/\/createyournow.com TAKE A.I.M. ~ Action Ignites Motivation  - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. (https:\/\/form.jotform.com\/62988215824163) \ud83d\ude4f  Create Your Now TV on Pray.com (https:\/\/pray.com) \ud83c\udfa5  Create Your Now on YouTube (https:\/\/youtube.com\/createyournow) \ud83c\udfa7 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. \ud83c\udfb6  Create Your Now on iHeart Radio (http:\/\/www.iheart.com\/show\/263-Create-Your-Now-Your-Best\/) \u270d\ufe0f  YourBestSelfie@CreateYourNow.com  Instagram @CreateYourNow @KristianneWargo Twitter @KristianneWargo @CreateYourNow Facebook www.facebook.com\/TheKISSCoach www.facebook.com\/CreateYourNow   Cover Art by Jenny Hamson Photo by Canva.com   Music by Mandisa - Overcomer http:\/\/www.mandisaofficial.com Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright \u00a9 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music -  Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. ","author_name":"Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo","author_url":"http:\/\/createyournow.com","html":"