“I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken” — Psalm 16:8
Last November, The Rock pastors traveled to St. George for a multi-day conference. On our free day, a group of us went to Zion National Park; we’d decided to hike to Angels Landing. The hike is five miles long with 1,500 feet of elevation gain. That doesn’t sound too bad, but the challenging part of Angels Landing is the extreme exposure and huge cliffs. Sadly, people have died there.
As we started the steep, exposed part of the hike, I got rattled. I held onto the chain (a good idea), but literally leaned into the mountain, away from the cliff. My fear caused me to walk slanted. My co-pastor Billy said, “Don’t over think it. You are psyching yourself out.”
I
realized Billy was right. I was
overthinking it. I straightened back up, held onto the chain, and LOCKED my
eyes on the trail in front of me. No more peering over the edge into the abyss.
We had a great time, hiked to the top and then headed back to the car.
When we got back home, I showed a few people some random YouTube videos of the
hike. And I kept thinking, “I don’t remember that part. Or that part. Or that
part.” I realized my focus was so locked on the trail, I hadn’t noticed some of
the really scary parts of the hike.
Which brings us to Psalm 16:8. Christian, when you are worried, anxious or fearful (or even encouraged), do you keep your eyes locked on the Lord? This verse speaks of a confidence, an assurance, that keeping our eyes locked on Jesus will bring us.
Striving to keep my eyes locked on the Lord,
Posted in A Word from the Pastor