What Does Your Soul Reflect?

This morning, my girls and I went for our near-daily walk and the sky was almost cloudless with a slight breeze blowing. It was lovely, especially for a typical day in the middle of Florida's summer with all the not-so-glorious heat and humidity.

But then, as the morning wore on, clouds rolled in and rains poured down, covering our yard with puddles. 

And now, as I write, the sun is shining brightly in our yard with clouds hanging low in the distant sky. 

One can never be quite sure what will happen next... More rain? Or how about a cloudless sky? It really could go either way.

I feel like circumstances can be like that. Sometimes, the good ones stretch over months, and other times, they last only a few short minutes.

And yet, how quickly and easily we put our hope in them.

I don't know about you, but my emotions are often intricately tied into my circumstances, and as a result, they can be so... unstable.

One minute, the sun of circumstances shines brightly, so my soul shines brightly too. And then the next minute, a cloud covers over the sun, and I discover shadows in my soul.

It is disheartening, don't you think? 

Right when we think the sun might keep shining in the circumstances of life, another storm rolls in.

Hope fades. Good feelings gone. Doubts creep in. Anxiety takes hold. Second-guessing prevails. Fear knocks. Self-pity and self-preservation take over. 

I doubt if you've never experienced this at any level. I'm pretty sure every human in the history of the world has, even if they tend to be more logical in how they respond. 

But as Christians, are we really supposed to be so unstable?

This is something I've been pondering and asking God about. 

I feel like the command to "rejoice always" is absolutely impossible when this is happening.

I mean, how can my soul possibly act like there is sunshine when all I see are clouds and rain? 

UNLESS....

Unless the eyes of my soul are looking beyond my circumstances to something changeless. 

Unless I am choosing to look away from everything else that is causing all the anxiety and doubt and bad feelings and hopelessness and at just One; that being Jesus.

"We are pressed on every side by troubles," says Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:8, "but we are not crushed."

What? Is that even possible? 

Imagine being literally surrounded by troubles on every side that are pressing in on you and not being crushed. 

How? 

"We are perplexed," he continues, as though that weren't enough, "but not driven to despair."

Whoa. Wait a second. 

Think about the times when you were so perplexed about a situation and there was no hope to ever figure it out. Imagine that that didn't drive you to despair!

Again. Mic drop.

He continues in verse 9 saying, "We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed."

But... how? 

"...We don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen...." (2 Corinthians 4:18) 

The writer of Hebrews put it another way in Hebrews 12:1-2: "...Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith."

And this brings me to the whole point of this post: 

My soul will always be a reflection of whatever the eyes of my heart are gazing at.

This is why waking up happy after pleasant dreams and deep sleep doesn't guarantee we will still be happy at lunch time after a difficult morning full of things gone wrong.

We are always looking at something.... have you thought about that? 

It is evidenced in the place your mind wanders to when you don't have to be thinking about anything. 

It is evidenced in the things that get you the most excited, as well as the things that get you angry.

If a quiet soul is due to quiet circumstances, you can be certain it will not last. 

There is no security in quiet circumstances, for just like earthly seasons, quiet will soon be replaced with a storm, and just like the soul was a reflection of the quiet, it will then become a reflection of the storm. 

We must fix our gaze on something more secure and changeless than our circumstances if we wish to have a placid soul in storms. 

A runner can only make the distance if they keep their eyes on the goal, but if he gets distracted with scenery or rocks in the road, or if he looks over at the other runners on the track, he will be sure to lose the race. 

If he eyes the remaining track and tries too hard to measure whatever distance is left, he is sure to get tired. 

If he thinks too long about his aching muscles, he is sure to slow down.

If he thinks too much about what other people are doing who are not in the race at all, he is sure to forget he is even running. 

And we will only make the distance if we keep our eyes on Jesus.

All other things trip us up or slow us down.

We will only have endurance as we gaze at the One who endured.

We will only experience peace and joy if our eyes are fixed on the peaceful One who is the source of all our joy. 

Is your soul always at ease? 

Ask your heavenly Father, who knows you best, if it is due to easy circumstances (which will change) or due to your eyes being fixed onto the Changeless One. 

Is your soul turbulent -up one moment and down the next?

Ask Him what it is that is stealing your gaze from Him. He is not like that -so should you be?

Read the following verse and ask Him the questions, "Am I being transformed? How does it happen?" 

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:18)

Where are you looking, beloved child of God? This is the question that's been challenging me much this week. 

I want to be transformed deeply. I want my soul to be a reflection of Him.

It can't happen if I am not gazing long at Him.

And it won't happen for you either. 

So, look at Him. He is already looking at you with the tender love of a perfect Father.

If you can't see Him, ask Him for sight. Look for Him where He can be found -in His word, in secret prayer, with His people. 

And if you don't know how, ask Him to teach you. His is more than willing to help us learn something so valuable, so life-altering as this. 

He wants it for you more than you do.