Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best though by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.  

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I sometimes find comfort in singing or listening to old hymns.  Their lyrics seem universally true, and often are based off of passages in the Bible, Old Testament psalms that David wrote long ago. When life seems engulfed by loose ends, by things that keep unravelling until there's hardly anything left at all, I think of this particular hymn.

When Scott and I got married last Spring, I walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of this song by David Abramsky.  I wanted our marriage to be grounded in truth and in Jesus.  I wanted Christ to be the vision for our marriage, and for the lyrics at the end of this hymn to stand true throughout our life together.  Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.  Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.  Whatever befall, whether arguments or disagreements, illness, financial troubles, disappointment.  Whether happiness, joy, new life, victories.  I wanted to affirm that no matter what lie ahead, Christ was still ruler and still at the very center of what we were seeking in marriage.

I've fallen a long way from that in my own life lately.  I've fallen away from the Gospel and its truths.  I've been almost grieving the loss of my community of believers back home and have used that as an excuse to keep my guard up in my new home.  I've allowed my night shift schedule to consume me in such a way that I'm lucky if I find myself able to make an appearance in church once or twice a month.  I haven't joined a small group or Bible study since moving here and instead just keep to myself in my own personal studies of the Bible.  I don't share thoughts with people or listen to another person's perspective on a certain passage or discuss what the true meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words are.

All of this leads me to the season of Lent that is upon us, starting tomorrow.  I look forward to Lent every year, to the forty days of focusing on Jesus and His great sacrifice.  Forty days of saying no to the things that tempt me most.  I want to refocus my heart during this Lenten season.  I want to be near to the cross and to feel the depth of the Gospel.  And I want to refocus my vision so that Christ is at the very center of everything I say and do.  

Be Thou my vision.

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That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3:17-18

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Love,

C.