Raise your gaze 

Have you ever found yourself walking around looking at the ground instead of at the beauty around you? We can go through life like that. So sometimes – perhaps right now! – we need a wake-up call. It’s time to raise our gaze.

That’s why we’re exploring what it means to have the sort of faith that lifts our eyes to God and moves mountains. After all, that’s the faith that the Bible teaches us about. 

And yet, we so often want to reduce this whole faith thing down to asking God to give us our latest selfish desire. 

I’m sorry to be so direct about this, but I don’t want to waste your time. There are plenty of people who will tell you that you can have the great car, the big house, the cutting-edge gadgets if you’ll just have faith; if you’ll just believe. 

The problem is, that’s just not what Jesus said. 

Because fortunately for us, He didn’t set His sights as low as that. He was after something so much more. And, as the Apostle Paul writes, that’s what we should be aiming for too:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself… Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5–7, 9–11)

Jesus wasn’t chasing the glory of this world. There was a much bigger, eternal, glorious picture that His eyes were set on. So He sacrificed in the short term. And what a sacrifice it was!

This is the upside-down perspective on faith that He calls us to. Not a me-centered faith, but a Christ-centered faith. And if we truly want to lay hold of the mighty faith that Jesus spoke of, we can only do it one way. On His terms. Not on ours.

So as you lift up your gaze to the God who is worthy of your trust, let me ask you: do you feel that tiny mustard seed of faith starting to germinate in your heart? 

LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS   

• Time for honest introspection. Have there ever been times you’ve tried to use your faith like it’s a coin in a vending machine, and asked God to give you all the ‘stuff’ you wanted at a given moment? What was the result?
• Read through Paul’s description of Jesus’ sacrifice in Philippians 2:5–11 as quoted above. What does it say to you about the true nature of faith?
• What are some steps that you can take, starting today, that can help you move further from a me-centered faith and more towards a Christ-centred one?
• Spend some time in prayer, asking God to help you cultivate that seed of faith that He has planted in your heart. Ask Him to make it grow and grow!