Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Hebrews 12:2 — Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Helen Lemmel knew what it was to feel buried.
Some days, life felt heavier than she could carry. Money was tight, her health fragile, and the world seemed determined to test every ounce of endurance she had. She had long learned that hope does not always arrive wrapped in sunlight or easy answers.
Then one afternoon, she found a small pamphlet. Its cover was plain, but the few words she found inside were exquisite.
It read, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.”
She read them slowly, letting the phrase sink into the quiet corners of her heart. At first, it seemed almost too simple t—but, for the first time in weeks, she felt the weight pressing on her lift a little.
No. It did not make the bills disappear. It did not suddenly make the world less lonely. But it gave her a place to look besides the storm.
She began humming a tune, small and unsteady at first. Then she wrote, letting her worry pour out as melody and verse.
Over time, the fragile notes she wrote became a song. It was a new hymn that carried not only her own hope but the hope of anyone who might feel crushed under life’s demands.
When people sang it during the Great Depression, their faces lifted, their hearts softened, and the burden they carried grew a little lighter.
“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.”
Helen learned something in that season: the storm does not have to define where you set your gaze. Even when life is harsh, the bills are stacked, and the world seems unkind, you can choose to lift your eyes up to your savior.
So pause today, even for just a moment. I believe you to can find the same relief Helen did. Andy you might discover, that a hopeful horizon can still exist though the storm rages around you.
LYRICS
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free.
CHORUS
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.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion
For more than conqu’rors we are!
His Word shall not fail you, He promised;
Believe Him and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
