A Gaze Fixed on God 定睛仰望上帝
Dexu Xia
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you. Isaiah 26:3
Nineteenth-century Scottish pastor, Thomas Chalmers, once told the story of riding in a horse-drawn carriage in the Highlands region as it hugged a narrow mountain ledge, along a harrowing precipice. One of the horses startled, and the driver, fearing they would plummet to their death, repeatedly flicked his whip. After they made it past the danger, Chalmers asked the driver why he used the whip with such force. “I needed to give the horses something else to think about,” he said. “I needed to get their attention.”
In a world overflowing with threats and dangers all around us, we all need something else to arrest our attention. However, we need more than merely mental distraction—a kind of psychological trick. What we most need is to fasten our minds upon a reality more powerful than all our fears. As Isaiah told God’s people in Judah, what we truly need is to fix our minds on God. “You will keep in perfect peace,” Isaiah promises, “all who trust in you” (Isaiah 26:3 nlt). And we can “trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock” (v. 4 nlt).
Peace—this is the gift for all who fix their gaze on God. And His peace provides far more than only a technique for holding our worst thoughts at bay. For those who will surrender their future, their hopes, and their worries, the Spirit makes an entirely new way of life possible.
By: Winn Collier
Where do you normally fix your attention? How might you renew your gaze on God?
Dear God, my mind can be a scary place, and I fear so much. Please give me Your peace.
坚心倚赖祢的，祢必保守他十分平安。—以赛亚书26章3节
在19世纪时，苏格兰牧师托马斯·查默斯（Thomas Chalmers）曾经讲述他在高地乘坐马车的经历。当时，他所乘坐的马车紧靠着狭窄的山壁，沿着陡峭险峻的悬崖边上前行。突然其中一匹马受到了惊吓，车夫担心两匹马都会坠入悬崖，于是不停用鞭子抽打它们。当他们成功脱险后，查默斯问车夫为何如此用力抽打马儿。车夫答道：“我要分散马儿的注意力，让它们专注于我的带领。”
在这个充满威胁和危险的世界里，我们都需要专注于正确的焦点。然而，我们需要的不只是一种分散注意力的心理技巧，而是要将我们的心思聚焦在一个事实上，那就是上帝比我们所有的恐惧都强大。正如以赛亚告诉上帝在南国犹大的百姓，我们真正需要的是专心仰望上帝。以赛亚讲述上帝的应许说：“坚心倚赖祢的，祢必保守他十分平安”（以赛亚书26章3节）。我们可以“倚靠耶和华直到永远，因为耶和华是永久的磐石”（4节）。
所有仰望上帝的人都能获得祂所赐的平安，而这平安远不只是遏制我们最糟糕的想法。只要我们愿意将未来、希望和忧虑都交托给上帝，专注于圣灵的带领，我们就可以过一个全新的生活。
作者： 郭惟恩
你通常把注意力集中在哪里？
你如何重新定睛仰望上帝？
亲爱的上帝，我时常胡思乱想，
心中充满了恐惧，求祢赐给我平安。