I Lift Up My Eyes

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.  By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.  Ps. 42:7-8

Because of the generosity of friends, we were afforded a perfect weekend away up at Lake Burton in north Georgia.  My muscles are still sore from my approximately 5 minutes of skiing...so sad.  My seven year old daughter jumped from the roof of the boat dock into the water 20 feet below, tubed like a maniac once again, we had a campfire with guitar singing and little boys playing harmonica like the best blues musicians in history and ate like we were on a cruise.  Time with friends in a setting like that with space to finish conversations, or at least dive deeper into more topics than usual just nourishes my heart.  And then it must come to an end.

I was overcome with that feeling of depression last night and even this morning as the chores of unpacking, laundry, house cleaning began to dominate the screen along with moving plans, home inspections, meetings with people, adoption fundraising, etc.  It didn't help that we watched an interesting but depressing movie last night, which helped to just plunge me into a kind of emotional hole.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?  My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.  Ps. 121:1-2

To move my gaze from my naval, from the dirty carpet that needs vacuuming, from the tasks that are roaring like hungry lions coming at me to the physical object of high, large mountains is brilliant.  The mountains are not only bigger than me and in many ways more dominating than my immediate surrounding, they are also so beautiful!  My dad is flying to Colorado now for a week of outdoor adventure with a group of men he doesn't even know that well.  The beauty of that country, of the mountains and the hills and huge sky, doesn't even require words.

As the Psalmist reminds me to lift my gaze, he also reminds me that my help comes from the One who created those huge, imposing, breathtaking mountains...and everything else.  He made all of heaven and all of earth...yes, even that slithering snake.  Who tells the tide this far you may come and no further?  Who feeds the sparrows?  Who draws lines and limits for Satan himself?  My help comes from the One who is in charge of ALL things, who determines set times and places, who knows the number of hairs on my head.  Of whom shall I be afraid?  My security no longer has to rest in never getting scratched or out of breath but that even the scratches and the shortness of breath are part of His redemptive plan.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Matt. 6:25

I get down worrying about all that I am supposed to accomplish, all that needs to be done, and all that I just can't do anything about.   I forget that I have not been left alone as an orphan to survive by own wits and will.

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.  Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.  Is. 46:3-4