Peripheral Vision
There’s a brief passage in the book of Proverbs that has been my favorite this week. It’s the advice of a father to his son in a brilliant and practical chapter about living life with wisdom:
“Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.” (Proverbs 4:25, 26)
Three words have stuck out this week, and not just because I highlighted (and underlined) them: Look straight ahead.
Not up.
Not down.
Not to the left.
Or right.
Or behind.
Look straight ahead.
To be brutally honest, this has been tough for me. Here’s how I processed this in my journal this week:
“When you look straight ahead, you seem to be able to live with a much more balanced viewpoint. Think of it this way: Peripheral vision allow me to see just enough of the directions around me that I’m aware of what’s going on around me, but not overly concerned.“
I have problems with this and regrettably, my inconsistency proves it.
More often than not, I’m looking up, laboring and yes, ‘obsessing’, about my relationship with God. I get caught up in a ‘do-do-do’ mentality, instead of ‘be-be-be’. When that happens, I ignore the ’stones’ right in front of me that are set to trip me up. That, or I take too much pride in my ‘do-do-do’ spirituality to remember my need for grace.
Then there are the days I spend looking down, obsessed with my schedule, struggles and strategies, and all but ignore the Father.
Either way, when I’m looking anywhere other than straight ahead, my perceptions of the other directions are out of whack. And when I think wrong things, I believe wrong things. And when I believe wrong things, I do wrong things. It’s not pretty.
Perhaps it’s the amount of time I spend in my Mizunos, but the thought of running helps me think about this in a good way. I can’t expect to run very well when I’m looking up all the time. (Plus, I’d look even more ridiculous than I already do!). I also can’t expect to run well with my chin on my chest.
The ancient advice of a father to his son rings true today: Look straight ahead.
Thoughts? Feedback? How can I be praying for you?
I suck at this. I am not even good at it when I run (okay who am I kidding, walk.) My head is everywhere but where it should be, straight ahead.
Love this! I think a lot of us struggle with this. When we're not putting God in front of us, I do believe that our eyes tend to wander. It's a lot easier to look straight ahead when you're following after Him!Thanks for the reminder to refocus!
Good stuff Josh. I've been distracted the past couple weeks by some things in my peripheral vision. Looking straight ahead once again!