Gaze Toward the Heavens

So I’ve been trying to figure out (as I’m sure many of us are) what the heck is going on?

I think we’ve all lost our minds! Okay, maybe not all of us, but there’s more than a handful of crazy going around. 

I think I found part of the problem during my reading of yes, you know I bring it up every week… Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen. 

We are struggling with cynicism. I didn’t think I had any kind of cynicism in me until I looked at the definition of a cynic: a person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons. 

I must admit, I have dealt with this quite a bit lately. Here are some things I learned from Jennie Allen...

Cynicism erodes our ability to see God rightly. It interprets the world and God based on past hurts we have experienced and forces us to look horizontally at people rather than vertically to God. 

Okay. Yeah, I do that sometimes.

Just yesterday, after watching some very disturbing videos of people with skin like mine, who were horribly abused and mistreated, I struggled with my cynicism turning into grief and anger. I’m not one to dwell on hurts, but the mistreatment of humans, based on their outer appearance leaves me wounded every single time it happens.

It didn’t happen to me, but it could, and it hurts. 

My wounds are eroding my ability to see God rightly. So what do I do about that? What can you do about your eroded view of God? How can we look vertically at Him instead of horizontally at an imperfect people?

Well, let’s go back to living in God’s Word. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” We’ve heard it before, but it’s difficult to put into practice. This scripture is an antidote for the poison of negativity and cynicism. If we actually did what this scripture teaches, oh how our world would look different.

What you feed grows.

Here’s more of what Jennie has to say. “Good things happen when we train our attention on that which is beautiful, on that which is authentic and compelling and good. What’s more, beyond the obvious emotional experience, those good things from the hand of God can point us to the One who creates beauty, who is beautiful.

Cynicism puts our minds on things of this earth, and we lose hope. Beauty points our gaze toward the heavens and reminds us of hope. Cynicism crumbles in the presence of beauty.”

I desperately need this mountain of hate in front of me to crumble so I can see the SON.  When it doesn’t crumble on its own, I must pick up the Word of God, and use it to bring that mountain down, and hold on to hope. I have hope that my good God can redeem the pain inflicted on so many whether it be mental, emotional, or physical. I have hope that we can each fight the temptation to cling to anger and frustration. 

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

I have hope that we will all see the real enemy in this story and put him in his place. 

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." -Ephesians 6:10-11

I refuse to give in to hate. I choose beauty. I choose love.