“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:28 NKJV
Have you ever just sat back and looked at the clouds in the sky and wonder at all the different shapes and sizes and how they grow and move about? I will admit, I do it all the time and have as far back as I can remember. I recall when I was young, (yes that was a very long time ago) just laying on the grass in my parents backyard staring up at the clouds just watching and looking for different shapes and sizes. Then, after becoming a believer and accepting Jesus into my heart, thinking the biggest clouds were the ones where God was, watching me.
Of course, God is everywhere and not limited to a certain place and time, but He has, on occasion, chosen to appear using a cloud to shield His glory but make His presence known. Considering that, and understanding the times we are living in and experiencing right now, do you think it is any coincidence that Jesus instructs us in this passage from Luke to “look up”? Personally I don’t think it is, and in fact, I believe it is something we should all be doing right now, especially because we are told to by our Lord. That being the case, have you ever given any thought as to why He tells us this?
“For innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore my heart fails me.” Psalm 40:12 NKJV
Consider what David says in this Psalm concerning his desire to look up. It certainly appears to me that he knows the importance of doing so, yet the situation he finds himself in seem to prevent him from doing so. Exactly how would you describe the events we have been witnessing lately, and how have they affected you? Is it fair to say that evil surrounds us all right now? Have you at times despaired over what has been happening to the fabric of our society, and the behavior of people in regards to authority? While David shares his struggle to look up, we too might just as well suffer from the same struggle as we witness the birth pangs of a world about to be delivered into tribulation.
To be honest, I am no different than anyone else when it comes to watching what is happening to our world right now. It affects us all to one degree or another and the choices we make now on a daily basis seem somehow to be much more important and potentially troubling to our sense of well-being than ever before. Regulations and requirements make the seemingly simple choice to leave our own homes more complex and potentially troubling as our actions and choices are examined by others to a degree we have never before witnessed. So I ask you; have you looked up lately?
The last few weeks have certainly been interesting for me, and it should go without saying that the stress level rose to a whole new level considering all that I was dealing with at the time. While possibly not rising to the level David was experiencing, I did realize that I was suffering from the same malady in that I was neglecting to look up when it should have been the first thing on my mind. When in fact, I remembered these passages, I went outside as I did as a boy and just spent some time looking up and talking to God. I was ashamed to realize that it was the first thing I ought to have done, and the peace that God provided when I did that was exactly what I needed.
“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.” Psalm 5:3 NKJV
Now more than ever, we as believers need to heed the words of Jesus Christ in the passage from Luke, and the advice from David in the Psalms. I would encourage you to begin to practice looking up, and directing your prayers to God. Not in a figurative sense, but a practical one. Go outside and look up to the heavens where the Father resides and speak to Him as a child to their father. Who knows? You might be surprised at what you see, and hear.
Keep watching.
