Lift up your Eyes

*Playing with A&A. My big girls piled up on me!*

I'm in to my second week of a Beth Moore study titled, 'Stepping Up; a journey through the Psalms of Ascent'. It is wonderful.

Both Psalm 121 and 123 talk about lifting up our eyes. A while back I had talked about looking up to our heavenly Father, and these verses have really made me think further upon the importance of looking up.

Psalm 121:1-2 (Hans-Joachim Kraus) "I lift my eyes up to the hills. From where does help come to me? Help comes to me from Yaweh, who has made heaven and earth."

Psalm 123:1-2 (The Amplified Bible) "Unto You do I lift up my eyes, O You Who are enthroned in heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hands of their master, and as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy and loving-kindness for us."

Beth Moore suggests that an "entire chain reaction begins with our eyes and ultimately affects our hearts, souls, and minds. Where we look - where we genuinely fasten our gaze - amid continual life challenges has a tremendous impact on how we feel."

I have to agree with her. Where I look impacts how I feel. My previous post was on contentment, and it seems that has been on my mind quite a bit. I've been thinking of the many things I love about city living. When Beth Moore posed the question of looking impacting our feelings, I went once again to contentment. When my eyes are upon the "things" that others have that I do not have (for me the "things" are often yards or a bigger home), I feel discouraged and discontented. However, when I look at my past, where I have been to where I am now, I feel encouraged and content. When my eyes are continually fixed upon Jesus, envy has no room to sneak in to my heart. It's too full of Jesus. I certainly have a long way to go. I'm far far from perfect. But I do love my Jesus. Praise God for forgiveness, and that He loves us even though we are far from worthy.

I want to share with you the comments from The Eerdmans Critical Commentary regarding Psalm 123: "The singer affirms his total devotion to the Lord, and he wants to obtain a vision of the divine presence... His eyes are fixed on God's hands. To lift up the eyes is a gesture of deep longing. While God is enthroned in the heavens - a sign of his kingship - his transcendence is not inaccessible. God's crowd of helpers, like royal attendants, wait for a single hint before going into action."

Many of the articles I've read, sermons I've heard, songs I've sang, and Bible verses I've read have talked much about stepping out in faith. Putting our foot in the Jordan before the waters have parted, "you've never lived until you've lived by faith", going into action.

I am so encouraged by this. What are you doing with 2011? Are you walking bravely into some unknown, guided by your faith in God? Are you going through a valley of the shadow of death? Where are you going this year?

I was struck with the brevity of life as 4 high school students died in a car accident this weekend. I've lived many more years than these four boys will ever see. What am I doing with them?

This year I am stepping out in faith with my eyes lifted up.