Last week, I had the joy of being able to experience the solar eclipse with my boys, and while we were not in the path of totality, it was still a pretty amazing thing to see. We also had the livestream playing so we could watch the total eclipse and I was floored by the clips they showed of massive crowds, all looking up to the sky, smiling and cheering as totality finally came and then being awestruck as the corona shone out around the shadow of the moon. In interviews, people were talking about what a tremendous moment this was to experience and it struck me: We really don’t do enough “looking up” in our lives.
What does it mean for our minds to be at rest? Does it mean being in a place where we have no concerns or problems? Does it mean finding ways to to “not think” or “escape” our reality for a while?
When I was 15, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and as I walked alongside her through the barrage of fears, tests, hospital visits, scans, surgeries, and pain, I wrestled with these questions. Though I can’t remember the exact moment God dropped Isaiah 26:3 into my heart, I do remember that it changed my life.
When I read these words, I realized that I had been looking in the wrong place to find peace. I had tried the mindless escape of entertainment, tried “positive thinking” and keeping on a brave face, tried remembering good times and talked about great family memories we had shared together. And while these things offered temporary distraction, my soul remained distressed.
I felt the Holy Spirit impress on me to begin reading Psalm 91 every time we would enter the hospital and I could soon recite it from memory. And as I did, something changed. Did the circumstances change? No. If anything, they began to get worse. But my heart was now fixed, not on the things happening around and to me, but on God. I was looking up instead of looking at my circumstances and with my new focus, my heart was cradled in a peace that made no earthly sense. I found rest in the middle of a tremendous storm. And the beautiful thing was that out of this place of rest, I was able to bring encouragement to my mother in her struggle too.
I was looking up instead of looking at my circumstances and with my new focus, my heart was cradled in a peace that made no earthly sense. I found rest in the middle of a tremendous storm.
Scripture is full of examples of people who, even contrary to others around them experiencing the same situations, found rest in the midst of turmoil because of where their eyes were fixed. They had learned to LOOK UP!
The people of Israel in the wilderness had their gaze fixed backwards. They kept longing for Egypt – though it had been a place of captivity. They kept complaining about their circumstances, kept wallowing in despair and an attitude of defeat, failing to have gratitude. They couldn’t enter rest, because their hearts were as barren as the landscape.
But Moses and Joshua didn’t have that same barrenness of spirit – they didn’t on focus all that they didn’t have – because their eyes were fixed on the Lord. They weren’t looking at their circumstances, they were looking up. And because of where they were looking, they experienced some amazing encounters with God. In fact, they couldn’t get enough of His Presence. Moses spent so much facetime with God that his face began to physically glow with the reflection of God’s glory. Exodus 33: 11 says that Joshua lingered in the Tent of Meeting, even after Moses had left for the day. It was this singular focus on God and the desire to be in His Presence that allowed them to remain in a place of rest, to “see” the promises of God before they were tangibly evident, and infused them with hope and courage despite their present circumstances.
Acts 16:16-40 gives the account of Paul and Silas, when they were thrown into prison in Phillipi for proclaiming the Gospel and delivering a slave girl from an evil spirit. They had been brutally beaten and then bound in stocks in the prison. They could have been discouraged and angry over their situation. They could have languished in the jail cell, questioning their calling, and complaining about their circumstances.
But, Paul and Silas chose to do something different. They looked up! Their eyes were fixed on Christ and from the overflow of hearts at rest, meditating on Him, they began to sing. And their worship moved the physical earth, shaking the prison until it’s doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose!
It was this same singular focus on God that allowed David, despite all the hardships he faced, to say “Wait on the Lord… In God do I put my trust… Oh taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!… Our help is in the name of the LORD.” It allowed Peter to sleep peacefully in chains, under the watch of 16 guards while awaiting possible execution. It allowed Daniel to rest peacefully in a den of hungry lions and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to walk into a fiery furnace. It allowed the Early Church to share the message of Christ, even with the threat of torture and death hanging over their heads.
Hebrews 12:1-2 reminds us to fix our eyes on Jesus and run the race before us with endurance. So many times we find ourselves stressed out, frustrated, discouraged, or even angry with the situations in our lives. The hard things press in and try to crowd our vision and claim our focus. It’s at these times, we need to take stock of what we are looking at and choose to look up. Look up and remember that God is with us and that He is faithful. Look up and trust Him to see us through whatever valley or wilderness we are walking through. Look up and remember all the ways He has proved His Love to us before. And when the good times comes, we need to remember to look up still and thank Him for His Goodness.
This week, I pray you will look up and find the rest your mind and soul crave. Until next time, friends.
“I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven. We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on the their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.”
Psalm 123:1-3 NLT
Of Shattered Things 