Have you ever just had one of those days?  You know, where you woke up wrong and felt like your head was under water all day?  Where on top of that you forgot your homework, or work was particularly bad or hectic, or it seemed like everyone you ran into was just… mean?  Has it ever felt like EVERY day is like that?

I know I’m not alone.  Can I hear a loud, collective “AMEN”?

Last week I had more than a few days like that.  I just felt … “blah”.  You know what I mean?  Now, sometimes sin can cause that wonderful malaise in our life –  doing stupid things that we know as Christ-followers we shouldn’t be doing.   Perpetual sin on our part creates a big barrier between us and the fulfilling life-in-Christ God intends for us to live.

But, sometimes, life is just hard.  Or at the very least annoying.  Sometimes what’s needed is not necessarily confession and repentance of a specific sin, but just an overall shift in our perspective.

At one point in my annoyingly “blah” morning I decided to take a walk break outside… in the 95 degree heat.  I was annoyed enough that the temperature didn’t even bother me!  I put my music playlist on “shuffle” and popped in my earplugs, wanting desperately to melt away into another world.  The first song on random shuffle was a Mercy Me song called “My Heart Will Fly”.

Now, admittedly, I’m not a huge Mercy Me fan.  They’re good and all, and I appreciate their songs , I’ve just never been crazy about their music.  But….this song hit me right between the eyes… in a good way.   The lyric at the chorus:

“My heart will fly,
When I finally see You face to face
And my tears will fly
Away… away.”

Instantly a smile started creeping across my face and that warm, tingling feeling started washing over me.  It was the Holy Spirit tangibly touching me and reassuring me that He really was there, and the best really is yet to come.  What precious relief!

In a heartbeat God took my focus off the stress and annoyance of my day and lifted the eyes of my spirit to the reality of Jesus in His mercy, kindness, and power, ruling over EVERYthing in this world.  And my heart really did fly.

After that, I was able to handle the rest of the trivial silliness my day had in store.  God’s grace was with me.  And whenever I felt the tentacles of funk and depression trying to wrap around me, I plugged in my earphones and reminded myself again of how my heart will fly.

Songs like that are what I call “Gaze-Getters”.  They have the power to lift you out of the junk of the world and set your heart in the right place.  Memorizing Scripture helps here too.   For example,  Here’s a great Gaze-Getter by the Apostle Paul:

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”  (Colossians 3:1-4, NIV)

Maybe there’s a particular passage of Scripture or a song that serves as a “Gaze-Getter” for you.  I’d love to hear what your “Gaze-Getters” are!  I bet they could help others fix their eyes on Jesus throughout the day too.
Life is too short and precious for us to keep our thoughts and lives in the gutters.  If there’s sin in the way, get on your knees and get honest with Jesus.  Confess it to Him.  He already knows about it anyway!  Ask for His forgiveness and His strength to help keep you out of sin.  If you just need a gaze-lift and a spiritual boost, dig into the Word and turn up those songs that lift your spirit.

Let your heart fly.