Here’s the next installment of “Melodies with Meaning,” where our columnists tell you about some of their favorite spiritual songs. Today, we’re hearing from Sister Charity.

The world wants every piece of you.

The news: “Look over here!”

Politics: “No, me! Look at me!”

Social media: “Hi, let’s hang out for 10 hours. I’m sure you’ve got nothing better to do.”

Ya know who else wants every piece of you?

Jesus.

But the difference between the world and Jesus is that Jesus won’t get all up in your face about it. He won’t beg. He won’t yell. He won’t wave his arms in the air like those other distractions do, as their success depends on our attention. Jesus already won. And our success depends on Him. He simply waits till we’re ready, for us to come to Him, gently reminding us along the way that He’s still there.

I’ll be the first to admit that I get easily distracted. I’m the Internet’s easiest target. “Oh I’ll just pop on here real quick and see what’s new. It’s for…work, yeah. I need to stay in the know for work,” I tell myself very convincingly. Two hours later I’m down some YouTube rabbit hole about extreme home makeovers or seven-year-old prodigies. Harmless, right? Well, not when the next two hours turn into me comparing myself to every human on Instagram, or worse, reading my 57th article on the state of this virus and all the bad stuff that goes along with it. Let me tell you, not great for the anxiety. At that point, the world’s uncertainties have officially crept in, I’m having an existential crisis, and my eyes are fixed on fear.

Thankfully, last year, the Lord gave me a way to come back to Him, besides His mercy and grace. It’s a song that hit me like a ton of spiritual bricks, and it’s been my go-to ever since.

This beautiful rendition of “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” by Lauren Daigle is something like a meditation for me. The way the lyrics are slowed down forces me to really listen to the words and be open to the way they can move me. When I heard it for the first time, it created this sort of special-effects image in my mind — where the face of God comes forward and the Earth fades to the back.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

It was almost telling me that I’m not supposed to understand this world. That I should let it be strange to me and let Jesus be the only thing that makes sense. To fix my eyes on Him. On my faith. Not my fear.

Without fail, by the end of the song, I’m totally wrapped in His love. I’m one step closer to Him and one step farther from distraction. I’m in a space where I can give Him every little piece of me, leaving nothing for the world to feed on. My prayer is that this song would do the same for you. So I challenge you to play it wherever you might be, turn off the distractions around you, look full in His wonderful face, and let the world grow strangely dim.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.