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
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 is a fairly successful American singer in the late 19th century. In the early days of her career, she focused more on secular music. After the death of her husband which left her widowed, however, she began to spend more time producing Christian music. Her friend once shared with her an article entitled “Focussed” written by Lilias Trotter, a famous North African missionary and well-known artist. A paragraph in the article wrote “So then turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”. Helen was so inspired after reading it and wrote “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” This was later released in 1918.
Helen Lemmel and Lilias Trotter were considered very successful people in the eyes of the world, especially during a time when men were favoured over women. However, their achievements were even more incredible. However, they both realised nothing in the world, including their accomplishments and fame, could match the love and salvation given by Jesus. Jesus’ love became their motivation in life. Helen later remarried after her husband’s death, but her life was still filled with many troubles. A few years after remarrying, she started losing vision and her husband despised her for it and later abandoned her. Like her song, Helen overcame these troubled times solely by looking to God with her bright spiritual eyes. In her later years, Helen completely lost her vision but still, she persevered in creating songs. When inspiration struck, she would pick out the notes on a small keyboard and call upon her friends to record them before she forgot them. When asked, “How are you?”, her frequent reply was. “I am fine in the things that matter most.” Helen continued writing until she passed away at the age of 97. During her lifetime, she wrote over 500 hymns and melodies, which continue to touch people up to today.
When we turn our eyes upon Jesus, we not only have the strength to face challenges, but we also enjoy heavenly peace. Our purpose in life also changes.
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!
Our lives are often filled with many things that do not go our way. Some of them may be caused by what we did. Some, however, may be caused by seemingly no reason. Regardless, God is always looking after us. He is a compassionate father and a loving saviour. He will not let us go through these troubles for no reason. What we should do is get to know God better through the Scriptures, understand his intentions better, and during troubled times, obey His word steadfastly. This is what it means to turn our eyes upon Jesus. When we focus only on Jesus, miraculously, we will stop feeling pitiful for ourselves and will not blow up our problems, because we know that God, in all his wisdom and goodwill, allowed these things to happen to us. At the same time, we will still obey God and overcome sin, and will put our focus on God. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2).
translated by Abigail Teo