“To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens!” Psalm 123:1 NASB

There comes a point when one is climbing a particularly difficult hill, when one is pressed beyond strength, beyond endurance. When lungs are bursting for air, salty sweat is streaming down one’s face, causing blurred vision. Everything, every single thing in this situation makes the climber want to stop. To sit down. To quit pushing. To look back to where it was easier.

But in those moments, going back is often not an option, and indeed, could be more disastrous than pushing onward. There is only one choice in this moment. Only one place to set one’s face like flint.

It is time to look up.

“I lift my eyes unto the hills: from whence cometh my help? My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and of earth.” Ps. 121:1,2.

Keeping our eyes locked on the Lord is the only answer. He is always beckoning us forward, cheering us, indeed willing us to continue to ascend. Down is not an option. Back is not for us. We did that years ago. We do not want that anymore.

But, how, Lord? You might be asking: How do we stand when everything around us is crashing? How do we proceed, stay to the task, keep following the footsteps You are laying out before us?

In My strength, not your own He says. In My power not by might. By My Spirit, says the Lord.

It is a dichotomy. On the one hand the scripture tells us to run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus who is the Author and Perfecter of Faith. On the other hand, Jesus Himself bids us, also in the scripture, to come unto Him…and find rest. To cease from striving and know He alone is God.

The solution to our dilemma can be summed up one way: Jesus is always with us. We are not alone. We are not walking these difficult paths by ourselves, void of guidance, lacking hope. For, deep inside, there is a river of LIFE that flows from our inmost being. Living waters that bathe and refresh and revive even the most weary and languishing traveler. Holy Spirit, come.

Lord, Your ways are always better. Always higher. Always good.

So, dear one. Cease from striving and know that He is God. Lay aside those things that so easily hinder and beset, causing our feet to stumble. Be still. Know that He has this. Know that He has YOU.

And: Look up.

~ Debbie Ecker