Looking Up

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;

In the morning I will direct it to You,

And I will look up. —Psalm 5:3

"Poor little bird, you can't fly!"   

"No, but I can look up!" —George MacDonald

My morning routine has been the same for years: I complete my morning ablutions, snatch up a cup of coffee and my iPad and get my news brief for the day. Then I settle in to meet with the Lord.

No longer. I'm learning—first thing—to "look up.”

Looking out and about is unnerving: our country is circling down the drain. Pundits and prophets report the end of civilization as we know it and the scene on the ground confirms it. The world’s in a hand basket, as the old folks like to say, and we have a pretty good idea where it's going.

Given the spin we're in, it's better to "look up," to lift up our voices first thing in the morning and "direct" our thoughts to the LORD; to take the worries off our minds, where they have no business being, and put them into his hands where they belong. 

And then, with hearts at rest we can sally forth to meet the day, or shelter safely at home.

There's an old saying: “To make a beginning is the whole," and prayer is the best way to begin. Perhaps I can do little more—my sphere of influence is very small—but I can certainly do nothing better. 

David Roper

1.19.20