There have been so many difficult and discouraging things happening in our world lately, and in particular our country. There is no doubt that we are living through history in the making. These times could easily become all consuming. What is happening in the world right now could cause us to focus on everything that is wrong with the world and to lose hope for the future. But I don’t think any of us want to feel that way. We want to feel hopeful for our future and for our children’s’ future. 

I came across a profound statement by Lysa Terkeurst while reading her book, “It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way”, an incredible book for anyone grappling with the hard things of life. It read, “We will steer where we stare” (p. 126). The words leapt right off the page, speaking straight to the heart of the matter, and having a huge impact on my mind and heart. 

Her statement made me think back to the days when I used to teach swim lessons. I loved teaching people of all ages and abilities to swim, and the first thing I always taught each new swimmer was the basic skill of gliding across the water. The swimmer would begin by crouching low in the water and then proceed to pushing off using their legs to propel themselves forward across the water laying prone on their stomach with face down and hands placed straight out in front. Then after gliding forward across the surface of the water for a count of 5 the swimmer would bring themself to a stop. They would do this by pushing their arms back down to their sides while simultaneously bending at the waist, tucking their legs underneath, placing their feet flat on the floor, and lifting their head up out of the water. It seems pretty basic right? But for so many it wasn’t. Kids would fight putting their faces in the water. Adults would stiffen, afraid to relax and give over to the water they had feared for so long. And one truth always remained, where they stared was where they steered. If they lifted their head up to look around then their body would follow behind and sink down into the water, and they could no longer glide forward across the pool. If; however, they kept their head down with their face in the water then their body would rise up and follow behind gliding across the water. Wherever their head went their body followed, and wherever they stared they steered. It was a simple principal of physics and physiology that either kept them moving forward across the pool or bought them to a stop in the water.  

Life can be like this. When things are good, and life is sailing along our heads are lifted high and all we see are blue skies on the horizon. We feel whole, happy, secure, and like nothing can get us down. But this isn’t always the case of course. Sometimes in life things can get us down. Things can disillusion, disappoint, and devastate us causing us to drop our heads, lower our spirits and our gaze, and stop moving forward. At times like these we no longer see blue skies, but only storms on the horizon. 

While we might not be able to control the circumstances around us, for instance that storm in our path, we can control where we stare and therefore steer our hearts and minds. It’s all about what direction we chose to gaze in. Will we stare paralyzed into the storm or will we look intently to the one who is able to calm the wind and sea and to calm the heart and mind inside of you and me? 

In the Bible we read a story that illustrates just this. In Mark 4:35-41 the disciples were rowing their fishing boat across the Galilean sea when suddenly a storm came upon them. This was no small storm either. It says that, “a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped” (vs. 37). The disciples had of course set about doing what they thought needed doing. They stared head on into the storm and rowed with all their might to get to the other side. But try as they may, they couldn’t get to the other side, and it wasn’t until they changed the direction in which they were looking that they found relief. The moment that they looked to Jesus and cried out for help was the moment that he calmed the wind and waves and the moment in which they could begin to move forward. He was the source of their help and their hope. 

Our help may not always be as tangible as it was in this case, but we can rest assured that God will always be there for us in the midst of our storms. His very presence is our greatest help and our greatest hope.

Psalms 46:1-3 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

May we continue to fix our eyes on our refuge and strength and the one true HOPE that we have in this world and in the storms of this life.