Keeping Jesus in View Through Life’s Brokenness

The prayer, “Come, Jesus, come,” is not only a someday prayer for Christ to return and end the brokenness of the world. The prayer is also a now prayer that asks Jesus to step into dysfunction, hurt, confusion, and whatever is right in front of His people today. The lens through which life is seen makes all the difference, because circumstances may not change right away, but the view sure can when Jesus enters the room.

Paul’s warning in Ephesians 5 says evil days require careful living, not fearful living. The days may be confusing, divided, lonely, and full of half-truths, but God calls His people to guard how they see because how they see will shape how they live. The main point is simple: life may not let up, so believers must guard the way they see by keeping Jesus in view.

Jesus’ words about the eye being the lamp of the body reach deeper than the eyeball. The eye points to the heart, the mind, and the way people process what happens to them. A healthy heart sees with a singular focus through the truth of God, while an unhealthy heart filters life through fear, greed, jealousy, offense, and broken expectations. The greatest danger is not merely having a distorted perspective, but being convinced that a distorted perspective is right.

David’s prayer in Psalm 139 gives language for examining the lens: “Search me,” “try me,” “know my thoughts,” and “lead me.” God exposes the wounds beneath reactions, the stories behind fearful interpretations, and the heavy things that comfort may hide. God wants to heal not only what happened, but how what happened taught a person to see.

Jesus’ call, “Come, follow me,” puts Him in front of the life of every disciple. Hebrews 12 calls believers to throw off both sin and the heavy things that hinder the race, because either one can tangle up a life. Christ does not require His people to see the entire road ahead. Christ calls them to fix their eyes on the One leading the way.

The telescope at Mauna Kea reveals what natural eyes cannot see, and the stars do not change when the lens changes. Jesus, the Creator of the stars and galaxies, brings a God-size perspective to problems that can feel final. His perfecting work clears the view, wipes away what clouds the heart, and calls His people to sit up straight in faith, marriage, life, and hope.

##

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. Keep Jesus in view [54:01] Life does not always slow down when faith gets serious. Jesus remains the steady point when circumstances stay blurry, painful, or confusing. A guarded perspective does not deny reality, but refuses to let reality become greater than Christ. [54:01]
• 2. Distorted lenses can feel normal [01:03:40] Hurt, disappointment, and broken expectations can become so familiar that people learn to live tilted. Normalizing a broken lens can make a person think survival is the same as health. God invites honest examination because He does not want His children merely managing distortion. [63:40]
• 3. Pressure reveals what comfort hides [01:05:20] Pressure often exposes what is really sitting in the heart. Correction, disappointment, misunderstanding, and delay can reveal fear, pride, offense, or a false story being believed. God’s testing is not meant to crush faith, but to bring hidden things into the light. [65:20]
• 4. Throw off sin and heavy burdens [01:10:23] Sin entangles, while other burdens may simply weigh a person down. Both can keep someone from running freely after Jesus. The race requires discernment about what is not helping faith move forward, even when that thing is not always obviously sinful. [70:23]
• 5. Jesus sees beyond what is visible [01:15:37] Natural sight often reaches quick conclusions about problems standing right in front of a person. Jesus sees farther than fear, failure, and present circumstances. Faith begins to rise when His people stop trying to look around God and start looking through Him.
  
  ## [75:37]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [41:20] - Come, Jesus, Come Now
• [43:54] - How’s the View?
• [46:29] - When the Lens Gets Blurry
• [51:50] - Evil Days Require Careful Living
• [55:08] - Examine the Lens Shaping Life
• [64:04] - Search Me, Try Me, Lead Me
• [66:54] - Let Jesus Lead the Way
• [69:31] - Throw Off What Entangles
• [73:32] - The Telescope and God’s Perspective
• [76:34] - Turning Eyes Back to Jesus
• [77:38] - Responding to Christ’s Call
• [79:22] - Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
• [81:39] - Closing Prayer and Invitation

Bible Reading

Ephesians 5:15-16
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” [51:50]

Matthew 6:22-23
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” [55:50]

Hebrews 12:1-2
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” [01:09:47]

Observation questions

1. In Ephesians 5:15-16, what contrast does Paul make between wise and unwise living, and what reason does he give for living carefully?
2. According to Matthew 6:22-23, what happens to the whole body when the eye is healthy, and what happens when the eye is bad?
3. What kinds of lenses can distort the way a person interprets life, including fear, greed, jealousy, offense, and broken expectations? [57:46]
4. In Hebrews 12:1-2, what two things are believers told to lay aside, and where are they told to fix their eyes? [01:10:07]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does Paul’s instruction to live carefully in evil days call believers to wisdom rather than fear? What might careful living look like in a divided, confusing, or lonely culture? [53:28]
2. Jesus connects a healthy eye with a life full of light. How can a person’s heart, thoughts, and past experiences shape the way that person sees a situation? [56:40]
3. Why is it especially dangerous when a person not only has a distorted perspective but is also convinced that perspective is completely right? [58:18]
4. Hebrews distinguishes between sin and every weight that hinders. What are some burdens that may not be sinful in themselves but can still keep a believer from running freely after Jesus? [01:10:17]

Application questions

1. What is one circumstance, relationship, disappointment, or unanswered question that has been taking up most of your attention lately? What might it look like to pray, “Come, Jesus, come,” into that situation today? [41:51]
2. Have hurt, disappointment, offense, fear, or broken expectations shaped the way you see yourself, God, or another person? Which of those lenses may have become so familiar that it feels normal? [48:55]
3. Psalm 139 invites God to search the heart, test motives, know thoughts, and lead in the right way. What reaction in your life—especially when corrected, delayed, disappointed, or misunderstood—might God be inviting you to examine? [01:05:31]
4. What story or assumption have you been believing about a person or situation? How could you slow down, seek truth, and ask Jesus to show you whether that story is accurate? [01:05:47]
5. Is there a weight you are carrying that is making faith, marriage, family life, or obedience feel harder than it needs to be? What is one practical step you could take this week to lay that burden before Jesus? [01:10:18]
6. Is there a sin that has begun to entangle you, or something you have been tempted to normalize? What would it mean to bring it into the light and ask for help rather than continuing to carry it alone? [01:11:48]
7. Where are you most tempted to demand that God show you the whole road ahead? How can you choose this week to fix your eyes on Jesus and follow the next step He puts in front of you? [01:12:19]