Keep Your Eyes Up

I was at the skate park with my 4 1/2 year old son a few weeks back. The problem is, my 4 year old just so happens to think he is 16. Already the little guy feels the need to give me driving tips and in general thinks that there is no physical feat he cannot conquer (regardless of the fact that he is about 3 1/2 feet tall). While his big brother and sister were in school, he asked me to take him up to the skate park with his bike so he could go over the ramps. Now mind you, my other children did not begin to ride their bikes without training wheels until around 5 or 5 1/2, but this one, the youngest of 3, is just about as determined as they come to not be left behind. He told me one day at age 3 to take off his training wheels, and off he rode never looking back. So naturally at 4 1/2, he is ready for ramps and jumps (Lord help us).

So, being the safety conscious mom that I am, I strapped on his helmet before helping him up a large ramp with his bike. ;) There happened to be another guy there skateboarding, probably in his 20s, practicing tricks and jumps. We'll call him Skateboard Guy. He smiled when he saw Jackson atop the ramp with his bike. Thankfully, Jackson showed he had some good sense in his brain when he paused with a bit of hesitation at the top of the ramp. He told me he was nervous and I told him I would hold on to the front of his bike to help him maintain control for the first few times. Then Skateboard Guy looked over to Jackson and said "Just keep your eyes up! If you look down you'll get tripped up, but if you keep your eyes up you'll be good." I wonder if Skateboard Guy knew how deeply true his advice was.

Let's look at at a few verses.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says " Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says " Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

In both of these scriptures we are given an action that keeps us "from getting tripped up" as Skateboard Guy said, or from "losing heart" as the Bible puts it. The key is where we fix our eyes. Skateboard Guy said that if Jackson wanted to bike that ramp, he needed to keep his eyes up. And the Bible tells us the exact same thing. The passage from 2 Corinthians is one of my favorites (you'll notice I have a lot of favorites). Here Paul tells us that it is in the fixing of our eyes on things unseen, things eternal, that will allow us to endure the hardest of circumstances (the outward man perishing in the first passage) and call it light and momentary. Likewise, in the passage from Hebrews (another favorite) :) we learn that Jesus himself was able to endure the cross without losing heart by fixing his eyes on the joy set before him, aka things eternal and unseen. We are encouraged to fix our eyes on Jesus that we also my run this race well without getting all tripped up. Perspective is powerful! Where we fix our eyes determines our perspective, and it also determines our course.

Have you ever driven by one of those barrier walls on the highway? I remember those walls used to freak me out, particularly as a younger driver. The more I glanced at the wall, the more I felt I was about to plow into it. I remember my mom telling me not to look at the wall, but to look at the lane. When I fixed my eyes on the lane in front of me, I'd stay straight. Where I fixed my eyes affected the direction of my path.

Likewise, if our eyes are on our circumstances, our trials, the struggles we face, the frustrations in our day, our troubles, or even just ourselves, our agendas, our plans, or our feelings all of the time, all of those things will trip us up. The more we stare at those things, the more we "veer toward the wall." They fix our eyes on things seen, on things temporary, they pull our eyes downward onto the ramp in front of us. How easy it is to fall when we continually tuck down our heads and lower our gaze.

But when we fix our eyes on Jesus, on the joy set before, on things eternal, we are able to run and not grow weary (Isaiah 40:31). How do we do this? We stay in the Word, spending time continually remembering "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). We pray, we talk to the Lord, we praise Him and remember the bigness and faithfulness of our God. We speak the truth and abide in the Truth.

And finally, we "gaze" upon the Lord. In Psalm 27:4 David writes " One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple." I love the word gaze. The definition of gaze is "to fix the eyes in a steady intent, to look often with eagerness or studious attention " according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. May we not only be believers in Christ, may we be gazers. May we look with such eagerness and studious attention that we naturally move toward Him. May we look so longingly and steadily to our God, gazing upon His beauty and goodness, that it is our wholehearted desire to seek Him and to dwell in His presence.

This is how we find strength, energy, and hope. This is how we set our course to walk in freedom. We keep our eyes up, we gaze upon the Lord. It is how we do not lose heart. It is how we bike down the ramp.

So, you may be wondering what happened with Jackson and the bike? He kept his eyes up and he conquered that ramp! May you go out and do likewise. Just remember, keep your eyes up and you will be good!