by Maria Hartman

As Christians, we know and have heard the verse about the narrow path and the importance of staying on it; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are on it. (Matthew 7:13) So when we repent of our sins and come to Christ, we learn that we must move from the wide path to the narrow path. This is where we’ll stay close to Jesus; this is where we’ll walk with Him…

But when it comes to our focus or our view of life, I believe our progression needs to move in the opposite direction. We begin with the narrow focus of self and all that it wants and all that it ‘deserves’. Even when we finally come to the point of understanding our need of Jesus, our focus is still so narrow that it rarely leaves the confines of the walls that surround us.

What happens to us when we hurt or are discouraged? Where are we looking when we are experiencing defeat instead of victory, and despair instead of hope? Where we are looking is usually at the place where our vision is most diminished. It is then that we must hold tightly to the Word, and widen our gaze.

In the midst of some very challenging spiritual battles, God has shown me that the narrow view is a dangerous one to stay in. Of course as human beings, we feel much and we hurt deeply. If we love, then we hurt. As much as we may want it to be different, this is reality. The deer in the headlights posture that literally paralyzes us at times will come, but we must do all that we can to make sure it doesn’t stay. Sometimes we don’t feel like we can pray, or pick up the phone and ask for help. Sometimes we don’t feel the presence of the Spirit and wonder if He is really ‘there’ with us. We are never alone, yet sometimes that truth is too far away to grasp.

I recently went through a time like this. God didn’t take away my pain or the circumstances, but He did clean my glasses pretty well.

I picked up a magazine from World Vision that had just come in the afternoon mail. This organization does much around the globe to provide for the needs of the poor and needy. Sobering is the only appropriate word that can describe what is contained within these pages. It wasn’t that I’ve never seen anything like this before, but rather it was that I was seeing it instead of what I couldn’t take my eyes off of only moments earlier.

The big picture; the grander view; the desperate world…. hungry for not only food and care, but for hope and purpose. Hundreds; thousands dying grueling, agonizing deaths every day, only to move into an eternity that is worse than what they’ve already lived because they never heard the precious name of Jesus. I rarely think about that! I’m too focused on me! I’m too busy looking at what is wrong in my life! Where has my thankful heart been? Who are my eyes looking to? There are many things that can and should get our attention; this was just what God used in my life on that particular day. Suddenly I saw far more than empty faces that had no name; I saw what could happen to me and to others when we fix our eyes on what is before us rather than what is beyond us. A hopeless spiral begins and the enemy has us fully discouraged and burdened. In zooming in so close, we don’t gain anything; we only miss what needs to be seen…

For Today: Please don’t get me wrong; all of us will hurt and have some very tough days as we travel this earth;( there is purpose in that for us as well). But our eyes must eventually and swiftly move to the broad view of our Great God…who He is and what He’s called us to…and the urgent need of the hour. And when this happens, we do so with the recognition that yes, we do have needs and must depend on the Lord for His provision, but we acknowledge that others have much greater needs than our own.

Maybe the best way to say it is this: When our eyes are wide, focused on Almighty God, our steps will most naturally follow the Savior along the narrow path that we are called to walk. But when our sight is narrow, focused on ourselves or a trial instead of others or the God in the midst of the trial, we are much more apt to step away and wander onto the broad road that is full of ungodly views, empty solutions, and certain heartache.