Friday, June 10, 2011

Lift Up Your Eyes


Sometimes when I get tired I just zone out. Kinda stare off to space and freeze. My brain can't work, I have no energy and I accomplish nothing. I get mesmerized by the blankness in front of me. You know what I am am talking about. You just stare at the wall or at the ground...fixated on nothing. Simply frozen...

It is the strangest phenomenon. Sometimes mid-afternoon my kids have worn me out and I waste time just staring...focused on nothing. The same thing happens in life. I fixate on something so hard that everything else is paralyzed. I can't move. I have no faith, no direction, nothing is accomplished because I am fixated on a problem. Or I get so tired emotionally I just want to sit numbly. But, then I can't seem to snap out. And I zone out even more unable to get my bearings. Time goes by and I feel stuck...I can't snap out of it. If you feel that your heart & mind are stuck, you are looking at something too small. 

This is why I love the word of God. He knew we would get stuck in these mind traps which cause us to freeze and stop moving. What we look at is so important. We spend all day looking at our problems, our mistakes, our fears. We stare blankly at our bank statements. Re-read that painful email for the tenth time just to confirm that we are inadequate. Think about what we should have done, but didn't...over and over... We waste our lives frozen and numb because we are looking down. There isn't life in those places & therefore there isn't life in us. God knew this would be our tendency. How do we snap out of it?

"I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord..." -Ps. 121
"Lift your eyes up high, and behold who has created these things..." - Isaiah 40:26
"I pray the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you..." - Ephesians 1:18

Look up! The simply act of moving our eyes upwards creates a surge of life throughout our whole bodies. It starts with what we look at. The Solution. The Presence who changes our outlooks. Grace which bypasses all of our faults. Healing which mends all that is broken. Creativity that always has a another option to our perplexing problems. When I lift my eyes, I see God. When I see God, I am free from the smallness of my mind. I realize that I am not seeing the grand entirety of the situation that God is orchestrating. 

When I look up, Life floods back into my bones. So, stop looking at the relationship that didn't work out. The bills that come without relief. The criticism that haunts your identity. Quit staring blankly at the mundane routines of life...Look Up! Lift your eyes & come alive again. 


3 comments:

  1. I feel like you wrote this for me. I've been stuck. "I will lift up my eyes unto the hills...I've been forgetting to do that. Thank you you for allowing God to use you to be a blessing in my life.

    Looking up,
    Pamela

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  2. Oh my goodness...what a pertinent word. We ALL needed that

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  3. Pamela, I'm so glad it blessed you. I've been visiting your website lately by the way. I love it. Praying for the grace to lift your eyes!

    Elizabeth

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