If there is something I’ve learned throughout the course of my life, and majorly in the past year, it’s how to keep my eyes on Christ during very serious situations. I’ve had, in my opinion, way to much practice with this. But never the less, God gives us these experiences so that we can help others walk through their own messy situations. This post will be short and sweet and to the point, because I know we all want that straight arrowed path to the cross. However, the cross is always readily available to us, so take this post with a grain of salt.

Eyes on Christ

Step 1: Prayer, prayer, and more prayer.

This is the single most important aspect of keeping our eyes on Christ. Pray with your emotions, whether those emotions are good or bad. Yell at God if you’re angry, trust me He is big enough to take it. Cry out to God if you’re scared. Just sit in silence and weep with Jesus if you’re overwhelmed. Ask for help from Him. Ask for peace. Ask for Him to send the angels. JUST ASK. Talk to Him, He is the best listener.

Step 2: Write the Word.

There was a time when I had no words for God. I wanted to talk, but I was all talked out. Especially since nothing could bring my daughter back from the dead, so why ask for it?…. So instead of using my own words, I turned to the words of David. I started by writing the Psalms as my own personal prayers. I could really resonate with the passionate feelings of David at that time. I felt what he felt and cried out how he did. Me and David were the same person at that point in time of my life. So his words became my words. Every day I’d find a new Psalm that really touched where I was in life and I’d write that in my prayer journal. That helped me to find my voice again.

Step 3: Remind yourself of God’s goodness.

After Wyatt was diagnosed with T1D, I went through this dark spot of not knowing if God was good….its scary to admit that out loud, but its truth nonetheless. So I started writing it down. Standing on my faith alone to keep me steady. I knew that God was real, I knew that God’s promises were yes and amen, and I knew that God was good. BUT, I didn’t feel that God was good to me…..So I wrote:

“God is good, even when life is not.”

“God is good, even if I cant feel it.”

“God is good to me.”

“God is good.”

Everyday I would write that under my prayers. I’d write it more than once on the days I didn’t particularly believe it. Then eventually, I felt it deep in my heart, that THIS was TRUTH.

With All of God’s Blessings

Stephanie Smith