Have you ever tried, from a distance, to direct a small child to find something in a large yard? I’m talking about someone so little that they don’t know their left from their right. It’s quite a difficult thing. In fact, it’s almost impossible. However, it isn’t always about your inability to give good directions or their inability to hear the directions. The difficulty comes from their limited perspective. That child’s search is often limited to a three-foot circle around his or her feet. While “Look left” might be accurate, little kids don’t understand that command. Furthermore, looking at their feet and the small radius surrounding them isn’t always helpful either. 

I’ve discovered that two of the best directional commands are “look up” and “look out.” For example: “Look up away from your feet” or “Look out toward the playset.” Yes, there are objects associated with those directions, but the basic command is to take your eyes off your current location and onto something beyond yourself.

During hard seasons of life, it’s easy to look down. It’s easy for our eyes to drift lower and closer to the pain at hand. The results are rarely good when this happens. Worry quickly rushes in. Fear becomes overwhelming. Doubts arise. All because perspective has been lost. 

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he writes, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).

After magnifying Christ in chapter one, speaking of his own suffering and hardships at the beginning of chapter two, and then addressing the cultural pressures that the Colossian believers were facing, Paul tells them to “seek the things that are above” because their eyes had shifted to the small circle around them on earth. Additionally, he addresses the fact that they were going to appear with Christ in glory when Christ returns.

So what was a suffering apostle telling his pressured people? Look up and look out. Get your attention onto Christ in the midst of the affliction and onto the hope of his return. Jesus is seated, because his work is finished. He’s sovereign over the pain and pressures. He’s not sitting back and unaware. You can trust Him when life is hard. Furthermore, because Christ is your life, you can walk through the pain and pressures with hope, knowing that you will be reconciled fully back to God one day. Paul reminded the Corinthians of a similar truth: You can still be hopeful when life is hard, because “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

So where are you looking today? The Lord is speaking clearly, and if you have ears to hear, listen to him direct you with truthful words like, “Look up and look out, child. I’m over it all, and I win. The pain and pressures of this world aren’t outside of my control and will come to an end.”