What Are You Looking At?

Someone recently recounted to me that her Driver’s Ed instructor told her that whatever she was looking at, that is where the car was going to go. That is so true in so many areas of life! Whatever you are continually looking at, whatever you are focusing on, that is where you will tend to go. So, what are you looking at?

Are you looking at the problems in your life? Are you looking at what needs to happen but just never seems to fully be accomplished in you? Or are you looking at what God has promised to you in spite of what it looks like on the outside? Are you looking at and listening to how terrible things are in our world or are you looking at and listening to God who says His desire is for it to be another way?

It’s difficult to look at a situation, particularly one that has gone on for a long time and see it any other way than what it looks like on the outside. But that is the essence of faith - seeing what God says in His Word and then believing Him that it can actually become that way on the outside. That is the way it was for me many years ago. I saw myself as fat, lazy, insecure, uncertain of myself, unlovable, and someone that was tolerated rather than truly wanted. But as I got into God’s Word and saw that He gave His Son up so I could be in relationship with Him, it was life changing! Why would the God who made this universe be interested in me? But He was!

And even after I was born again, I still had that negative image of myself. Gradually, little by little, He showed me in His Word the way that He saw me and how it was not how I saw myself. I had to make a choice. Do I continue believing what I had seen in my life and believed about myself all these years, or do I dare to step out and believe that what He saw in me, what He said about me could possibly be true? I’m so glad I made the choice to believe Him. It is a choice that I have to continually make because old habits of thought and coming across new layers of thoughts that I didn’t realize were deep inside me creep up to the surface. God continues to show me that I have to look at what He says as the truth, not what others say about me, not what I believe about myself, not what circumstances are telling me. I have to continually ask myself, what are you looking at?

Another question that God showed me is: how are you looking at things? Not only what are you looking at but how are you looking at it? Are you looking at things through old habits? Are you looking at things through the lens of His Word? We all know that we can look at something intently or casually. I am a multitasker and I have to be careful that I am not looking at certain things too casually because my attention is divided. There are certain things that you have to stop doing and really concentrate on one thing. Sometimes that is because it could be dangerous not to, or it might be because it is really important to you, or it is intricate, etc.

Do you remember being taught critical thinking in school? Looking at a source and seeing if they are credible, biased, factual, etc. You can’t just look at something and take it at face value. You have to decide if it is believable, if it is true, if the person telling it to you has ulterior motives or is telling you the truth. We have to not only think about what we are hearing, but how. Do we believe it because we want to, because we have been trained to, or because it is actually true?

How are you looking at yourself? At others? I challenge you today to ask God to help you to continually look at yourself and others through how He sees us, not what things on the surface are telling us. You were fearfully and wonderfully made in your mother’s womb. He knew you before you were even born and loved you then and loves you now - even if you appear broken and beat down. Appearances can be deceiving. Decide that God is credible. That He knows the real you and loves you to the core. Then look at His Word daily, consistently. You will begin to see things in a different light. I guarantee it!