Keep Your Head Up
On a family camping trip, after the kids went to bed and we found ourselves sitting watching the fire go out, I noticed how easy it was for me to just sit and watch the fire. Head down. Eyes fixed. Focused so intently on what was right in front of me.
It was at this moment I realized where I was. I was in the woods. In the big beautiful woods. I was surrounded by trees. I was out under the night sky. I then began to feel the the night air around me. I remembered how clear the day had been and even how clear the early evening had been.
One of my favorite things has always been to gaze up into the night sky and watch the stars. I always enjoy watching and waiting to see a shooting star. Why was it, on this night, I found it so much easier to watch the fire than to enjoy the night sky above?
Out of no where, so it seemed, it hit me, I was sitting in one of God's greatest classrooms and all I was doing was staring at the fire right in front of me. I suddenly found myself looking up.
What do you think I saw?
You guessed it. A magnificent light display of fantastic "twinkling" stars.
WOW!! They had been there the whole time. They were shining! The light they were created to shine was dotting the night sky like many nights before. Why was I just now noticing them for the first time tonight?
In my head I could here the words "That'll preach."
Have you ever been there?
Do you ever find yourself so focused on the "fire" in front of you that you forget to look up?
Maybe it's an illness. Maybe it's a loss. Maybe it's family trouble or friend trouble. Maybe it's work. Maybe it's an addiction.
Don't be afraid to look up! For the child of God, He has given us a way of escape. Yes, there are times we have to stay focused on the ground in front of us so we don't stumble or fall. But I encourage you dear Sister or Brother in the Lord. Keep Your Head Up!
That fiery trial that is in front of you is not intended to take you down. The fire is a place of purging. A place to make you stronger. But even as we go through the fire we must remember to keep our eyes on Jesus.
As I sat looking up at the stars and pondering the words Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart I began to get a crook in my neck. That's no good I thought. Quickly, to avoid the pain, I found myself once again staring into the fire.
Isn't that just like my walk with the Lord? After a time of keeping my eyes on Jesus, something hits me wrong and I find myself staring my trial down again.
Jesus, please help me to focus on you and not my circumstances. Remind me that you are with me. Remind me that through you I can Keep my head up.
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Peter 4:12-13
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1Corinthians 10:12-13
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2
"And we have seen and do testify that the father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." I John 4:14-15
Until Next Time, Keep Your Head Up!
(Originally posted on August 21, 2025 on a previous blog I had started)