An old friend emailed me out of the blue recently. She signed off her email, “Eyes up.” I didn’t think much of it at the time. I closed down the email, delighted to be back in touch, to hear her news and touched that God had prompted her to reach out to me. And then, I found myself re-opening her email and re-reading her last words.
“EYES UP.”
They stayed with me the rest of the day.
That phrase reminds me of an event in Jesus’ life that was often taught to me as a child: The moment when Peter walked on water. In Matthew 14:22–33, Jesus told His disciples to go ahead of Him in the boat while He stayed to have some time alone from the crowds to pray. By evening, the boat was a long way from land “beaten by waves,” and the “wind was against them.” Jesus calmly walked across the water to reach His friends. When Peter realized it was Jesus walking towards them on water, he called out, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus told him to come, and Peter walked on water. Can you imagine the sense of wonder he must have felt? Maybe you know what comes next. “When he saw the wind, he was afraid,” and he started to sink. After Jesus rescued him, He said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Often that story was taught to me to illustrate the importance of keeping my eyes on Jesus. The minute Peter turned his eyes to the wind, he started sinking. What my young mind internalized was, “I have to keep my eyes on Jesus to avoid sinking. Jesus will be cross with me if I don’t have faith.” Now, there’s some truth in that, but I was skipping from Peter sinking to Jesus’ rebuke. Sandwiched between those two parts of the story is something powerful and beautiful. The minute Peter started sinking, he cried out, “Lord, save me.” What did Jesus do? He IMMEDIATELY reached out His hand and took hold of him.
There is a similar story in Mark 4:35–41. The pattern is almost the same. It was evening, and Jesus needed time away from the crowds. So, He told His disciples to get in the boat, but this time He came with them and went to sleep in the stern. In the meantime, “a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat.” The disciples panicked. They woke Jesus and said, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Sounds pretty disrespectful to me (though I guess they were scared). Again, when I heard this story as a child, I always remembered Jesus’ words afterwards, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
But, what was Jesus’ first response when His disciples panicked? He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “PEACE! BE STILL!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
These stories give me hope for today. “Yes,” where I choose to look does have an impact on my fear. And “yes,” my fear has an impact on my faith. But even when my eyes get pulled back to my circumstances, and even when I forget to look at Jesus, and even when my faith is not perfect: JESUS STILL SAVES ME. He is close enough to reach out and grab me.
So, I will keep my “EYES UP.”
“I will call upon Your name and keep my eyes above the waves.
When oceans rise. My soul will rest in Your embrace.
For I am Yours. And You are mine.”
Oceans, Hillsong.
