"Oh Christ, be the center of our lives."

There are some days where life feels chaotic. And then there are some weeks where life seems chaotic. Sometimes we experience months of chaos. Other times---it feels like the chaos has been going on since we were born and will probably never end.
I'm not sure if I've been having a day filled with chaos, a week filled with chaos, a few months filled with chaos, or a couple years now. Honestly, I'm not keeping track. Life is chaotic. We can all agree with that statement. Depending on your stage of life, at this very moment, you probably have homework to finish, kids to get ready for bed, dishes to clean, work to be done, or conversations to have. You're may already be in bed, but you're having a hard time falling asleep because you're remembering everything you have to do tomorrow. 
Chaos fills our world. We have our own chaos. But we also have friends and family members with chaotic lives. And then they tell us about their chaotic lives and we freak out even more. 

For example, it's midterms at Lindenwood right now. We don't really have a specific week devoted to midterms. It's more like...3 weeks where the professors give us every paper, test and reading assignment possible. I have two papers due this week. Two tests this week. Two books to read. More reading assignments than I'll probably actually do. But that's just my list. 
My roommates have a tendency to stress about their schoolwork a little bit more than I do. Since last Monday, I've heard how they have 8 page papers due, research projects to start and finish, huge reading assignments, 250 tests....you get the idea. And then I find myself freaking out on behalf of them. I start to think..."Oh my goodness! I should be freaking out! Midterms! Tests! Readings! Oh my!" So, my anxiety starts to increase and I start to freak out on their behalf. 
My Chaos+Their Chaos=Major anxiety. Major heart attacks. Major unhappiness.

And so, I started to attack my assignments tonight....when I fell asleep on the floor at 8:00 PM. Which is hilarious because I usually stay up until midnight. I ended up waking up about 30 minutes later. No harm done. But...I needed to wake myself up. I decided to jump in the shower. For those of you that know me...you know that I'm a shower singer. 5 time award winner at shower singing. I was creating my playlist for this great time of singing and I came across a song that I haven't heard in quite sometime. It's one of my all time favorite worship songs. 

The chorus of the song says:
"Oh Christ. Be the center of our lives. Be the place we fix our eyes. Be the center of our lives."

I was stuck in a moment of worship when I began to listen to this song for the first time in years. 
Everything that seemed chaotic. All the mess. All the questions. All the confusion. All the things that I needed to get done. They all seemed to fade away in the presence of my Lord. I just sang those words to Him in a moment of complete surrender. 

"Oh Christ, be the center of my life."

Jesus is the only one that we need. He is bigger than our mess.
Everything in this world is fleeting. Everything in this world will turn to dust. 
The only thing that matters is that we've loved Christ and loved others. 
May we not let ourselves become so focused on homework, our jobs, and our to-do lists that we lose sight of Christ. May we not let ourselves become so focused on the struggles, chaos, and mess of this world that we lose sight of Christ. 
2 Corinthians 4:17 says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 
I don't know your story. I don't know where you come from. I don't know your deepest wounds or your biggest secrets. I don't know where you stand in your relationship with Christ. 
But I do know that there is a love that is deeper than the ocean.
And there is hope found in the arms of Christ. 
There is rest for your weary soul in the arms of Christ. 
There is peace for your weary mind in the arms of Christ. 
He has proven Himself true in my life. 
He has proven Himself trustworthy in my life. 
He has proven Himself to be Savior, Healer, Redeemer and Restored. 
He has proven Himself to be Peace, Safety, Help, and Rest. 
No matter where you find yourself tonight. Reach out for Christ's hand. Let Him pull you out of your mess and chaos and find rest for your weary soul. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." 
He deserves our love. He deserves our entire hearts. He deserves our undivided attention.
He should be the first One we think of when we wake in the morning. And the last one we think of as we lay down at night. He deserves even that part of you. 
Oh Christ, be the center of our lives. 

"Be the place we fix our eyes."

When the world gets tough, where do you turn? 
When the chaos takes over, who do you turn to?
When the to-do list seems impossible, where do you run? 

Jesus wants us to fix our eyes on Him. He wants us to run to Him with our impossible to-do lists. He desires to hold us during the chaos. 
He will come through. 
Colossians 1:17 says, "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." 
What beautiful truth! ....We don't control our lives. He does! 
He holds everything together. 

2 Corinthians 4:18 says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

May we focus our attention on the foot of the cross. 
May we focus our attention on God's character.
May we focus our attention on the promises of God. 
May we focus our attention on God's holiness.

"Oh Christ, be the center of our lives. Be the place we fix our eyes. Be the center of our lives." 

Lord, we re-focus all of our love, affection and adoration on You tonight. We surrender our chaos. We surrender our busy schedules. We surrender our confusion. Our stress. Our discontentment. Our messes. Our sins. We lay them at the foot of the cross. And we gaze upon Your beauty tonight. And we rest in Your love and forgiveness. May our lives reflect Your love. May our lives reflect Your forgiveness. We drop our baggage at the foot of the cross, we look up to you and we confess---once more---Lord,  we desire for You to be the center of our lives. Amen. 

"And 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."

In His love,
HG


Comments

Anonymous said…
this is wonderful Hayley:)
- Dani Fumagalli
October 10, 2012 at 2:09 PM
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