“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”
Psalms 121:1-2 KJV
The Coronavirus pandemic has brought with it fear, anxiety, confusion, and an uncertainty about the future, however, God doesn’t want any of these for us. The Bible encourages us not to be fearful. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7 KJV
Why should we lift up our eyes to the hills? One easy answer- it is the only option we have now. The world systems can’t give us hope- they appear to be failing- the governments around the world don’t have answers to the pandemic, the stock markets can’t give us a guarantee on our investments, our jobs are not necessarily secure and our families can not fill all the gaps in our respective lives but one thing is for sure- God is the maker of the heavens and the earth and if he made these, he knows who we are, where we are, what we need or what our challenges are, and we can rely on him by ‘lifting up our eyes to the hills,’When we lift up our eyes to the hills, what can we see? We can see God’s faithfulness, majesty, strength, and power, which give hope.
Our eyes must be fixed on God because when we do that, we take a position of faith, trust and hope in the one that rules in the affairs of men. The Corona pandemic didn’t take God by surprise- he is working it out for our good- can we trust him, can we look to him as the source of our help provision, and strength? Yes we can, he is the anchor of our hope. We may not be meeting physically in a building to encourage each other. God is still with us wherever we are, he is omnipresent- he is same God that remains unchanged- he is the same God that helped the Israelites, through Joshua, to cross the river Jordan even when that certain period was trying for them- they made a headway when they trusted God and stepped out in faith. It didn’t make sense after they received an instruction from God to step into the flooded river. Once they did this, God honored their faith- the flooding stopped and all of Israel crossed over the Jordan on dry land into the promised land (Joshua 3:9-17).
All over the scriptures, we see God telling us to be at ‘peace’ and be filled with ‘joy.’ We can only get these when our eyes are lifted high.
In Genesis 28, we read about Jacob fleeing from his brother, Esau. because he had received his brother’s blessings from his father Isaac deceitfully. As he ran away in fear, he wasn’t at peace until God appeared to him in a dream. “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;” Genesis 28:12-13 KJV. Just like the angels of God surrounded Jacob, God’s angels are around you today and are keeping watch over you and I. His mercy didn’t not run out on Jacob and his mercy still hasn’t run out today.
In Matthew 14: 22-30, Jesus disciples were fighting heavy waves on the sea and they were afraid. Jesus told them “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here! ” verse 27. Peter stepped out in faith, looked up to Jesus and started to walk on the water towards Jesus but as soon as he looked down to the strong winds and waves, he became terrified and started to sink. Take courage, don’t be afraid, don’t doubt. Life today is akin to the sea that Peter dared to walk on. Walking on water or living or sailing through storms requires the supernatural help of God. Lift up your eyes to the hills, don’t look at the storms or meditate on the negative news around you.
Finally in Exodus 8, we read about how the
plagues of flies were sent to Egypt when the Israelites were still slaves to the Egyptians and lived in Goshen. Then came the time in verse 22 when God said ‘I will make a clear distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.’
Exodus 8:23 NLT. God is a covenant keeping God That covenant between God and his children (his people) remains today and it is sealed by the blood of Jesus. God will separate us for his glory. You and I have what it takes, just like the Israelites and Peter, to make it through the storms that we are faced with today. “For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.”
Colossians 1:27 NLT
As we navigate these times, let us remember to continue to ‘Lift up our eyes; keep your eyes on Jesus, don’t look at the storms, stay in faith- stay in the word of God, and after God gives victory, don’t forget to build your personal altar(just like Jacob did). The Holy Spirit, our wonderful counselor will always be there to guide us.
Shalom!!
Written by Clara Ogunsemi and culled from a message by Mrs. Nkoyo Rapu. The writer can be contacted at cogunsemi@yahoo.com