We are never alone if we keep our eyes on Jesus

By Jenna Ebener
A reflection Column

I recently started watching the new season of a show I like. It had been a while since I had watched the previous seasons and I found myself lost in some of the storyline. I started watching the previous season’s finale and then backed up to another episode. I finally decided to go back to the beginning. Not only did the storyline come back to me, but I caught even more details and insights about where the bigger picture of the story was leading.

The Easter season is a great reminder to go back to the beginning. Easter reminds us of the bigger picture of our faith. Easter culminates in the death and resurrection of our Savior. Yet, it is so much more than that. We need to go back to the beginning to appreciate truly the divine miracle of Jesus’ resurrection. Easter shows the power and love of our God. We are reminded that our God became human not only to experience life with us but to suffer with us and to save us. He saw humanity at its best and at its worst. He boldly expressed God’s truth and was persecuted, tortured and murdered for sharing that truth. He suffered the most shameful death possible during that time. He was abandoned by almost all of his followers. Yet, he rose from the dead to save us, the ones who persecuted him. Jesus died for us so we will never have to feel the abandonment that he felt. We are never truly alone, as long as we keep our eyes on him.

I was driving towards the mountains the other day and saw a beautiful sight of dark clouds surrounding the mountains. In the middle of that intense darkness was a core of light. It reminded me of Good Friday when our Savior and our world were at the darkest moment as Jesus lay dead on the cross surrounded by darkness. Yet, that darkness did not last, for our Light was about to rise from the dead. No matter how dark things get around us, if we keep our eyes on our Light, the light of Jesus will shine through any darkness and keep our soul alive with light and love.

Life is hard. It can be challenging to keep our eyes on the light. I recently saw a quote at a school for students with behavior disabilities that I think is a great reminder of how to keep sight of the light: “It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see.” We can look at the darkness surrounding us and choose to see the bleakness of despair. We can look at Jesus on the cross, surrounded by darkness and death, and we can despair at the hatred of humanity. Or, we can focus our eyes on those surrounding him at the foot of the cross — his mother, his beloved disciple and the brave women. We can see what his death represents —our new life in him. We can see the love of our God who gave everything to save us. It is indeed not what we look at, but what we see. What do you choose to see today? “And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).

(Jenna Ebener, a graduate of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, is a social worker at a school in Colorado for students with a combination of medical, cognitive and behavior disabilities. She relies on God every day to aid her on this wonderful, yet intense journey.)