Lift Up Your Eyes
When I was coming up, you had to take a drivers’ education course in high school. I only remember two things about it: First, that my driving instructor’s name was Mr. Fearnow. Comforting. Second, that I was so short I had to sit on a life preserver to see over the dashboard of his big Chevrolet sedan. There’s some poetry to awkwardly driving through your hometown with Mr. Fearnow while sitting on a life preserver.
My real education came in driving with my dad. As I careened from centerline to shoulder, he said something I have never since forgotten: “Ryan, rather than concentrating on what’s right in front of you, look out to the horizon.” If I focused on the potholes or worried about staying in the center of the lane, I was an anxious, overcorrecting, zigzagging roadway menace. But if I focused on what was further ahead, I could better navigate the obstacles with confidence and less motion sickness for all.
There’s an analogy for our Christian life, here.
We are all too often absorbed by what is immediately in front of us; the current state of politics, rising costs, our career, our singleness, our kids, our house, our health, our finances, the expectations of our spouse, our parents, our friends, ourselves.
Rather than looking to the horizon, we’re looking down at our phones for relief — sucked into a superstorm of other people’s successes or scandals; amping up our discontent and frustration, metastasizing our anxiety and irritability to others. We zigzag between discouragement and white-knuckled will power. We lose sight of who we are and whose we are. That’s why we need to focus on what is further ahead.
We need to remind ourselves that we belong to the one who will one day return to judge the world in righteousness (Jn 16:8; Acts 17.31); who will right all wrongs (Rev 21.5), who will comfort all sorrows (Rev 7.17; 21.4), who will have the final word.
We need to remember that in love He took on the punishment our sins deserved (2Cor 5.21); that he has gone before us to prepare a place for us in his everlasting city (Jn 14.3); that no matter how crazy the circumstances seem, he is working all things for our good (Rom 8.28); and that He says to us even now, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Matt 28.2). We need to keep our eyes on him and he will make our pathways straight (Prov 3.6).
And this reminds us of our need to pray.
Prayer of Confession
Lord, we confess this morning our failure to keep our eyes on you. When we consider all that you are, all that you have done, all that you promise, it is both preposterous and offensive that we look to anything else. Our worries speak to our faithlessness. So, we put ourselves again at your feet and hold fast to your mercy and grace. Forgive us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you (2 Chron 20:12). Search us and know our hearts (Ps 139.23) as we acknowledge these and our other sins to you in this time of silent confession…