Fixing My Eyes on Jesus When Life Gets Hard
Evening Scripture
Hebrews, Chapter 12
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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined — and everyone undergoes discipline — then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!
They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken — that is, created things — so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Evening Reflection
Where do look when life gets hard? Where do we place our focus? If you’re like me, too often we look to our own strengths. Actually, I focus more on what I can’t do more than what I can do. I focus on my inabilities, my frailty, or my failing.
When life turns difficult, and I need to persevere through a time of trial or struggle, the things that keep me stuck glare at me. I criticize and condemn myself for all the ways that I am not as strong as I think I should be, as smart as I pretend to be, or as put together as I seem to be.
Hebrews 12 reminds us that the life of faith can be difficult. One of the most important elements that we see in Scripture is that it presents to us a realistic look of the life of faith. Life can be hard; there is no sugar coating this. We need not pretend that this isn’t the case, or that the perfectly faithful somehow rise to a life devoid of hardship. No. Life can be filled with struggles and trials where we feel stretched beyond our capabilities.
But while this is an important truth for us, more important is this: We are not alone. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who walks before us, guiding our way. Nothing in life can overtake his presence in our lives, and his power at work in us. Instead of looking to all the ways you may feel out of your depth, turn your eyes to Jesus. Fix your gaze on him. Because as you follow his lead, placing your footsteps in his, there is nothing you can’t walk through. There is nothing you can’t overcome.
Evening Prayer
Tonight’s prayer is taken from the Lyrics of the Hymn “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” written by Helen H. Lemmel in 1922.
O Soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There is light for a look at the Saviour, and Life more abundant and free.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth with grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.
How did tonight’s scripture speak to you? Share your thoughts in the Your Nightly Scripture forum discussion.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Tachina Lee
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Originally published Sunday, 06 September 2026.
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