I heard an old hymn recently. It was one of my grandmother’s favorite hymns. “Turn 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.”
I thought of the Hubble Space Telescope. Remember the price tag? $1.2 billion. Shortly after its launch in 1990, NASA realized “Houston we have a problem…” Words they probably didn’t want to repeat. The telescope could not focus and the images were hard to discern. The scientific term came across the news as a spherical aberration, caused by the malfunction of a measuring device used during the polishing of the mirror. I don’t know about you, but I would not want to be the employee who polished that lens. The billion-dollar disaster as it was called.
But as is true with the United States of America – one of the things I love the most about our country – we are people with answers. As is typical of our country, we came up with a solution. An analysis of the problem determined an optical correction device. An incredible engineering feat – a masterpiece, as some called it, in optical engineering. And the images started coming – images of God’s amazing creativity – glimpses of the beauty of eternity.
Sometimes in our own life, God has to orchestrate events to make us see more clearly Who He is. Tragedy strikes, bad things happen, our world is shaken so that we can refocus on Who He is and who we are to Him. Maybe you recently lost your job. Maybe your child is acting out. Maybe you’ve experienced infidelity. Maybe you’ve lost someone very precious to you. Maybe you’re just having a bad day. All can be opportunities to refocus our lenses and redirect where we seek help.
His plans for us are good. Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”
He will accomplish good from the evil done against us. Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
He is with us always. Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Whatever you are experiencing, turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Allow Him to refocus your lens.
