Eyes Ahead
I think I finally figured it out. Four weeks after my snowboarding accident, I know why I fell. As promised, I am returning to the incident and writing about it once again because there was a secret hidden beneath it all that has risen to the surface.
Our lucky instructor, Russ, taught my sister and I two very important things about snowboarding from the very beginning. First, he taught us how to fall. "Don't catch yourself with your hands," he said. "If you fall forward, bring your arms to your chest and catch yourself with your elbows. If you fall backwards, fall on your butt. That way you won't break anything." I guess I learned that lesson the hard way.
The next fundamental he taught us was this: Always look where you are going. "You will go the direction that you are facing." Look left, and you will automatically drift left. Look right, and you go right. Look at your feet, and your face will land in the snow.
This is true, and it's exactly what helped me learn to turn and stay in control while boarding down the mountain. It is also exactly what caused me to fall. I got tired, I looked at my feet, and I fell.
These same lessons are fundamental for maneuvering through life.
If we lose sight of where we are headed, we will fall. If we look to the right, we slide right. Look to the left, and we drift left. If we look to the world for direction and satisfaction, that is where we will drift. If we turn our eyes toward our culture for truth and meaning, we will drift in that direction. In the same way, when we look to Christ, we will turn directly toward Him. And if we look down at our feet, we will lose all forward motion and end up face down on the ground. It reminds me of a song,
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
The second fundamental we need to remember is how to fall. When trials, temptations, and tribulations come and we feel ourselves falling, we need to fall in such a way that we will not break. If we reach out and try to catch ourselves with our own weak arms, we will break. But if we draw in our arms in absolute surrender and fall into the strong arms of Jesus, He will never let us break.
It is kind of like when Peter walked on the water: Jesus may allow us to start to fall and sink, but He will not let us be swallowed up and drowned. We may take our eyes off Him, but He will not take His eyes off us. He is with us the whole time, and He readily reaches out to save us when we call upon Him.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but never abandoned; struck down but not destroyed." We must fall in a way so that we will not break.
There is also something to mention about fatigue and the role it plays in our stamina and stance. I fell when I was tired and let down my guard. It is always easier to fall when we are fatigued. "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest," Jesus said. Remain in Him and His love (John 15), and your soul will find rest and delight in the "richest of fares".
With eyes fixed straight ahead on Jesus, our fixed gaze will meet the love in His eyes, and we will confidently proclaim, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken" (Psalm 16:8).
Our lucky instructor, Russ, taught my sister and I two very important things about snowboarding from the very beginning. First, he taught us how to fall. "Don't catch yourself with your hands," he said. "If you fall forward, bring your arms to your chest and catch yourself with your elbows. If you fall backwards, fall on your butt. That way you won't break anything." I guess I learned that lesson the hard way.
The next fundamental he taught us was this: Always look where you are going. "You will go the direction that you are facing." Look left, and you will automatically drift left. Look right, and you go right. Look at your feet, and your face will land in the snow.
This is true, and it's exactly what helped me learn to turn and stay in control while boarding down the mountain. It is also exactly what caused me to fall. I got tired, I looked at my feet, and I fell.
These same lessons are fundamental for maneuvering through life.
If we lose sight of where we are headed, we will fall. If we look to the right, we slide right. Look to the left, and we drift left. If we look to the world for direction and satisfaction, that is where we will drift. If we turn our eyes toward our culture for truth and meaning, we will drift in that direction. In the same way, when we look to Christ, we will turn directly toward Him. And if we look down at our feet, we will lose all forward motion and end up face down on the ground. It reminds me of a song,
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
The second fundamental we need to remember is how to fall. When trials, temptations, and tribulations come and we feel ourselves falling, we need to fall in such a way that we will not break. If we reach out and try to catch ourselves with our own weak arms, we will break. But if we draw in our arms in absolute surrender and fall into the strong arms of Jesus, He will never let us break.
It is kind of like when Peter walked on the water: Jesus may allow us to start to fall and sink, but He will not let us be swallowed up and drowned. We may take our eyes off Him, but He will not take His eyes off us. He is with us the whole time, and He readily reaches out to save us when we call upon Him.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but never abandoned; struck down but not destroyed." We must fall in a way so that we will not break.
There is also something to mention about fatigue and the role it plays in our stamina and stance. I fell when I was tired and let down my guard. It is always easier to fall when we are fatigued. "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest," Jesus said. Remain in Him and His love (John 15), and your soul will find rest and delight in the "richest of fares".
With eyes fixed straight ahead on Jesus, our fixed gaze will meet the love in His eyes, and we will confidently proclaim, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken" (Psalm 16:8).
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