Looking Up

This evening as I was walking towards the beach, I held a steady pace behind a man who was walking confidently with his nose in a book. He paused after a while and turned towards the gate in front of him, as if he was heading home. He looked up from his book and with a surprised expression exclaimed, “I’m on the wrong street!”

I almost laughed. I would have, if I hadn’t taken his exclamation so seriously.

My roommate and I are in the midst of searching for a new apartment. And while this man’s story could be an analogy for our house-hunt, it is a picture of something a little bigger. His actions struck me because, while I have been scouring the internet and re-tracing my steps through the neighborhood in search of a new place to call home, I have neglected to look Up.

I’m sure I am not alone. It’s not like we try to whole-heartedly focus on the ground beneath our feet or the book below our noses. Yet somewhere along the way (often within the span of a few minutes), our pride takes over and we forget to look up and see the One we should fix our eyes on.

This might seem like an ordinary observation, nothing like a epiphany, but in reality it is a daily struggle. And it should be. Not the struggle part, but the day-in-and-day-out. On this side of heaven, walking by faith is not meant to be easy. We will never get it “right.” It is a process.

The author of Hebrews describes it as a race. I am not a fan of running, but when I walk (walk by faith) I am reminded that I cannot do it full of pride and self-certainty. This is why he instructs, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Only through Him. It has been painful remembering this. But maybe next time it won’t take me so long to look up.