There’s a new mall in town and my friend and I went to visit it the other weekend. I could not believe how many lingerie stores there are now – even Chico’s has expanded into lingerie. It seems to be all the rage, but I wheeled right past those shops… didn’t even slow down… didn’t even look at the mannequins… didn’t even glance in, because I know from years of experience to steer clear of places like Victoria’s Secret. Oh, I don’t have anything against nice, lacey, intimate things, it’s just that because of my quadriplegia, well you can put two and two together, that sort of lingerie just isn’t practical. And besides I don’t want to set before my eyes these cute little lacey, frilly things that remind me of what I’ve lost… what is not mine… what will never be… I won’t be standing on my feet with a slim, trim figure, it’s something I can’t do. So, I don’t want to go down a road – or, into a store in the mall – which will only foment discontent. I don’t want to look at a mannequin wearing something skimpy and start comparing my paralyzed body with someone standing up (even if that someone is a plaster of Paris mannequin in the window of a store).
“Turn my eyes away from worthless things…”That advice is found in Psalm 119, and oh, it’s good counsel these days. You know how it is in our culture: When coming up out of depression, discouragement, or the despairing news that you’ve got MS – or any other painful medical condition – we “do our souls a favor” when we stay focused on things that are beneficial to our spiritual health, not a detriment. It’s one reason I don’t even flip through lingerie catalogs when they come to my house.
Perhaps one of the most challenging yet rewarding roads to spiritual health is the “discipline” of single-minded satisfaction on what has come from God's hand. And the best way to safeguard your contentment in Christ is to ask the Holy Spirit to whisper Psalm 119 into your ear every now and then, “Turn my eyes away from worthless things.” Sure, you may find it hard to look away from something that feeds self-pity or self-centeredness… but remember, the psalmist is asking God, he says, “Lord, you please turn away my eyes… tell me when something is worthless, that is, something that’s not worth looking at or pondering or contemplating.”
So friend, I challenge you to do this today. I'm asking you to join me in disciplining your eyes and your mind, whether it involves shopping at the mall, flipping through a magazine, staring at billboards, checking out the dessert tray, or cruising the channels on your television. If you want to remain content in Christ and the lot in life with which He’s blessed you, then turn your eyes away from everything that’s worthless. And instead, turn your eyes toward Jesus who, by the way, the next time, will have you happily convinced that thing you wanted to look at wasn’t worth looking at anyway. Right? Right!
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends