Encouragement from God to get our eyes up and off our screens
By Dean Collins
I have done it. You’ve seen others do it. And you either have done or will likely do it sometime. Our obsession with our phones has added significant danger to us and to others. The problem is not just the false need that has been created to stay connected to people and information at all times that creates the danger. The hazard I am referring to is the danger we create by constantly looking downward at our phones.
On a recent trip to North Carolina, I noticed again the dangers of looking down and the benefits of looking up. Repeatedly during the drive to and back from the North Carolina mountains, I had to hit the brakes, change lanes, or swerve to avoid a collision. And most of the time the dangerous situation was caused by the driver of the other car looking down at their phone instead of up at the road!
A similar problem occurs when we walk down the hall at the office or cross the street to go to the coffee shop. It seems that many people can’t even walk ten yards without looking down at their phones. Looking down keeps us from observing what is going on around us at any given moment.
Look up!
I had another observation while on my weekend trip to North Carolina; when traveling in or spending time in the mountains, we naturally look up. And looking up changes our perspective and often our mood. I did no real research on this topic other than glancing at a Google search about what happens when we look up. Hundreds of articles exist on this topic, and some of them appear to have conclusions backed by research. You can check it out if you aren’t convinced by your own experience.
You could also consider the many places in Scripture we find encouragement to look up. In the second psalm of ascent the psalmist described his experience this way: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
‘My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’
While the psalmist didn’t have the problem of cell phones and the neck damage we are getting from hanging our heads downward all day, he did realize that looking up naturally focused his mind on the beauty of nature and its Creator.
Some argue that we get mental benefit and even process information anytime we look up. But when we take a minute and go outside and look up or out toward the horizon above the tree line or at the sky, we can instantly feel a shift of mind. In these moments we experience a bit of the divine presence of God through his creation. And it is good for us!
Enjoy safety!
Psalm 121 shows the psalmist also coming to understand that a proper perspective of God includes realizing that God takes no breaks from watching over us. “He who keeps you will not slumber.” God never takes a nap or tries to get eight hours of sleep at night. The benefit of God staying awake is that we can close our eyes knowing he is always watching over us and working his redemptive and restorative plan for us.
God keeps us, gives us shade from the dangers around us, protects us from evil, and will abide with us constantly even until the day we dwell with him forever in eternity.
The psalmist ends this psalm with this powerful promise: “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
Enjoy God!
So my practical advice today is simply that we give it a try. Go ahead and go out and come in and either leave your phone in your pocket or in your purse. Don’t look down but look up and discover the beauty of creation. And in the process, you might just get a new idea, a problem solved, or simply enjoy a moment of communion with the one who made you!
Your time with God’s Word
Psalm 121 ESV
Photo by Alexandre Boucher on Unsplash
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