Lift Your Eyes

Lift Your Eyes

Psalm 121:1 to 2 - "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." Psalm 121:1 KJV

There are seasons when life makes you lower your head. You keep looking at the same troubling report, the same unpaid bill, the same closed door and the same prayer that appears unanswered. You think about the matter when you wake up, carry it through the day and return to it before you sleep. Before long, it becomes so large in your sight that you can hardly see anything else.

The psalmist knew what it meant to stand before something bigger than himself, but he made a deliberate decision: "I will lift up mine eyes."

Nobody lifted his eyes for him. He chose where to look.

There comes a time when you must take your attention away from what fear is showing you and turn it towards what God has said. This does not mean pretending the problem does not exist. Faith is not denial. It is the decision not to allow a real problem to become greater in your heart than a greater God.

What you stare at for too long will eventually shape your words. If all you see is the mountain, you will keep talking about its height, its history and how impossible it appears to move. But when you lift your eyes towards God, you remember that the mountain is not the highest thing in the picture.

Perhaps the first miracle you need is not for the hill to move. Perhaps it is for your eyes to rise again. Sometimes hope must return before the answer appears. Strength must enter your heart before the door opens. Something within you must remember, "God has not brought me this far to abandon me here."

The hill may still be standing, but it does not have to sit on the throne of your heart.

Today, look again. Look beyond what happened. Look beyond what people said. Look beyond the conclusion fear has already written.

The story is not over. Your life is still in God's hands.

What has occupied my thoughts more than anything else recently?

Have I spoken more about the size of the problem than the greatness of God?

Has fear persuaded me that what I see now is how my story will end?

What truth about God do I need to place before my eyes again?

Can I believe that God is working even when I cannot yet see the evidence?

Prayer

Father, in the name of Jesus, I lift my eyes above every mountain, troubling report, delay and unanswered question. Wherever fear has forced my head down, lift me again. Restore my confidence, renew my hope and breathe fresh strength into my spirit. Silence every voice telling me that this situation is too difficult, too late or beyond repair. Open the eyes of my understanding. Let me see beyond what is happening now and recognise Your hand at work in my life. I refuse to magnify the problem above Your power. This mountain will not become my god, control my confession or decide how my story ends. Father, turn my attention away from fear and towards Your faithfulness. Let hope rise again within me. I declare that I will not be buried beneath what I am facing. I rise above discouragement, anxiety and disappointment by the power of the Holy Spirit. My eyes are lifted. My heart is fixed. My help has come, and I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Declaration for Today

My eyes are lifted. What stands before me will not become greater in my sight than the God who stands above me. This hill is not the end of my story.