Becoming ‘Steady’

SCRIPTURE: I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:8 NIV

THOUGHT: It’s just the way God made our eyes — even though we have two, they typically track with each other, making us capable of looking only one direction at a time. If you can look two directions at the same time, it’s a hindrance, not a help. My Dad was an optometrist, and I watched him work with children and adults on tracking. Fortunately, both physically and spiritually, it’s something that can be learned.

Single focus was one of the secrets to the life of faith Peter learned by walking to Jesus on the water one windy night (see Matthew 14). He had the faith to ask for an invitation and the faith to climb out of the boat, but that’s when things started to go sideways. He learned the lesson of Psalm 16:8, that keeping his eyes on Jesus was the only way to stay steady, to “not be shaken.”

I wonder if you’ve ever had the faith to start strong, then lost your focus on the one who gave you the invitation? I’ve learned that lesson, but it seems to present itself over and over again, reminding me that being double-minded (think double vision) makes you unstable (James 1:8). In fact, James says you become “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (v. 6).” Peter and I know the truth of that. The antidote is developing a steady gaze on the one who saves, and cheers, and grabs a hand when we’re going down.

PRAYER: O God, help us as we learn the lesson of the Psalmist and the Disciple: I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.