A Fixed Point

By: Carole L. Haines
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Sometimes I wake up and my mind is a tangled mess. Thoughts of self-condemnation whirling around, making me dizzy with distraction. I have been through a lot of misunderstandings and rejection in my life, and this has led to me constantly questioning what is wrong with me, to cause this to keep happening. But God gave me a beautiful way of figuring out how to handle this confusion and pain.
If you are a NASA fan, as I am, than you have probably seen the Movie, Apollo 13. Her’s a quote:
“Our mission was called “a successful failure,” in that we returned safely but never made it to the Moon. In the following months, it was determined that a damaged coil built inside the oxygen tank sparked during our cryo stir and caused the explosion that crippled the Odyssey. It was a minor defect that occurred two years before I was even named the flight’s commander.” (Wikiquote, Apollo 13)
The astronauts had to use the Moon as a fixed point in order to keep their trajectory for a time in their journey back home. They had a window and needed to keep the Moon fixed in that window frame in order to fly in the direction they needed to go. Space is so vast that getting off-course is easier than staying on course. The Moon became their fixed point.
Well, Jesus spoke to my heart this morning and said, “Carole, I am your fixed point. Don’t look around at what others have said or done. Don’t look within at your own thoughts and feelings. Keep your eyes, your thoughts, your heart fixed on me.”
In the above Scripture, we are told to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and The Perfecter of our faith. He is our fixed point. His view of us is the only one that is true and that truly matters. Not what others have said and not what we think of ourselves. We must die to Condemnation both from within and without. God’s Word tells us, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) That’s you and me, Dear Believer. Let Jesus be your fixed point, the only One who can tell you who you are. Let everything anyone has ever said about you and whatever you have thought of yourself, die by the wayside. Take up His View of who you are, and who everyone else is, and keep those Jesus glasses on at all times, making Him the only view you keep in the Window of your heart.