LIFT YOUR GAZE

Dining with Jesus Christian Episodes

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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We live in a world obsessed with the immediate. The next deadline, the current crisis, and the latest notification demanding our attention. Our eyes are trained downward, fixed on the problems at our feet. But Paul invites us into a radical reorientation—a way of seeing that changes everything about how we experience suffering. What would it look like to lift your gaze today?

17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

(2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NIV11)

Assurance

The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth out of a place of deep faith. This was the same Spirit of faith that assured him the one who raised Jesus Christ from the dead would also raise us to be like him in eternity. 

It is because of this assurance that Paul was able to see the problems and pains of life through a radically different lens.

Real

But let’s be honest—when we first read phrases like “light and momentary troubles,” they can feel dismissive. Our pain is real. Our struggles are heavy. The burdens we carry don’t always feel light or momentary at all.

This is not what the Lord is doing here. God is not minimizing your suffering or brushing aside your hardship. 

Lift

Instead, he is calling you to lift your eyes up from the problems that lie at your feet. He is inviting you to pick up your chin and see the eternal future that Christ has won for you on the cross.

Reminder

Here is a reminder you can carry with you today: 

What is seen is temporary. What is unseen is eternal.

If we live this life focused only on what we can see, then we are living a temporary existence. 

Soul

This is a problem for us because we were created in the image of God and carry within us the gift of an eternal soul. When we live for the temporary, the eternal within us feels sick. It’s like knowing you need to eat a healthy meal but choosing to eat nothing but ice cream instead. It feels good in the moment, but it leaves us weak and sick afterward.

By looking to the eternal, we feed ourselves what is right and good. We nourish our souls rather than indulging only our temporary flesh.

Today

So let me ask you: 

  •   What are you going through today? 
  •   What would it look like for you to focus only on the temporary? 
  •   How might your situation feel different if you were to look up and embrace the eternal perspective of Christ?

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, help me to lift my eyes above my circumstances and fix them on the eternal glory you have prepared for me. When my troubles feel heavy, remind me that they are achieving something far greater than I can see. Give me the faith to trust in what is unseen and the strength to live for what is eternal. 

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Senior Pastor at PARK HILL BAPTIST CHURCH


Worked at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

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Copyright © 2024 Ryan Laden – All Rights Reserved.

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