When I was ten or eleven, I got my first opportunity to drive the family boat. We had a cabin on a large lake, and my dad had taken the family on an afternoon cruise across the bay. When we reached the other side, he asked me if I knew where home was. “Yes, it is right next to that tree,” I responded as I pointed back across the bay to a very large elm tree that stood head and shoulders above the pine trees surrounding it. “Take us home,” he said.
I was ecstatic to say the least, as you might imagine. The little boy gets his first shot at being “the man” in control of this monstrous, noble steed. Okay, I admit it was just a simple, humble little boat—but not to my eyes! My chest pounding, my heart in my throat, away we went.
After a very short time, my sisters started complaining that they were getting sick from my driving. The interchange that followed was nothing short of amazing. Dad said, “Where are you going?” “I’m headed toward that tree.” “Where are your eyes?” “On the bow of the boat. I am lining up the bow with the tree.” “Look behind you.” What I saw was revelatory. The motor of the boat leaves a trail of bubbles. That trail looked like a snake trying hard to slither away—it was anything but straight!
Then he said it: “Keep your eyes on the tree.”
That statement rings true in my soul yet today. As I adjusted my sight, I gained a significantly different perspective and found myself relaxing into the journey. A few minutes later he said, “Now look back.” What was now behind me was a smooth, straight line. I had been trying to align the nose of the boat with the height of the tree. My focus was very narrow, very short. I had been seriously overcompensating—thus the pattern of the wake I was leaving behind me, and thus my sisters’ complaints.
When I applied what I had just learned, the results were incredible. And from that experience came a broader application that is profound and still with me today:
Where are your eyes? Keep your eyes on the tree. Wow.
In this life, Jesus is that tree. Straight and steady. Solid as a rock. (As a matter of fact, he is the Rock. But that is a subject for another time.) When my eyes are on him, it is well with my soul, and I can relax into him. It is then that the perceptions, the outlook, the line of life is significantly straighter and easier than when my eyes are on me and my circumstances. When my focus is on me, my sight is short, which finds me continually overcompensating, overreacting. When my focus is on my Lord and King, life takes on a much higher purpose and value, which yields an inner stability, a peace. From that place, I am much more encouraged, strengthened and motivated.
This story is found within the pages of my book, First Things First, an expose’ on the Beatitudes, the first teaching from Jesus. It is shared within the context of a chapter talking about the practical applications of these Beatitudes in 2021 and beyond.
We find ourselves at a time in our history where there is amongst us as much division and uncertainty as there has ever been. I am not here to take sides or make some political statement. I am here to point out a manner in which all of the conflict, confusion and fear can be healthily managed.
Today, it seems, we have become hyper-critical. That means that everyone has an opinion, an answer, a solution to our ongoing dilemma. Whether they are right or wrong no longer seems to matter. According to them, because it is their view, that makes it right. And because there are so very many sources of talk, of input, the result has become one of great confusion; not to mention hatred and fear.
The story of the boy in the boat is one of perspective. By adjusting my view, my outlook, I was able to see the bigger picture. By doing that I was then able to make subtle tweaks and adjustments to the course – and not overreact. When my focus was too close and narrow, I was not able to gain any sort of overall perspective. I was making course corrections too quickly, too often, and too abruptly. We are living in a day where the course corrections are coming at a very frantic and hurried pace. Thus, all of the overreactions. Thus, all the confusion and uncertainty.
There is another way.
Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior. He is also the Creator; the One who put this planet – and all who are on it – in motion in the first place. He has an opinion. And because he is Who he says he is, his opinion is correct. He has answers. He has solutions.
Philippians 4:6-8 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests [your needs, your fears, your anxieties] to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
This is a very powerful portion of Scripture! It is a command, a directive, a promise and a guarantee all rolled up in one statement:
The command is, “Do not be anxious about anything.” But, as with all of God’s commands, it comes with the means by which it can be honored, engaged in and applied.
The directive is, “…but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests [your needs, your fears, your anxieties] to God.” Pay close attention to the commas! They help to break the statement down into bite sized pieces. They help to open up the opportunity to focus, to learn, to learn how to make tweaks and subtle course adjustments – one step at a time. (My daughter says it this way: Commas save lives! Consider these two sentences. “Let’s go eat, Grandma.” And, “Let’s go eat Grandma.” The only difference is the comma. See that the first sentence is a positive relational engagement. And see that the second one makes Grandma the meal!)
The promise is, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” There is a real and tangible peace that is God’s peace that truly does go well beyond our ability to understand – but not our ability to receive and live in! It is ours for the asking. It is ours in exchange for all the anxieties, all the fears and confusions and uncertainties. As we lay these things down before him, he removes them and replaces them with his peace. That is powerfully amazing – and amazingly powerful!
The guarantee is found in the source; in the One who is presenting the statement. The One of whom it is said, “God is not a man that he should lie… Has he not said, and will he not do it?” Said again, Jesus is the Savior. He came. He hung on a cross. He died. And He rose again. All for you and me. By accomplishing all of that he saved us; that is what savior means. He saved us from ourselves. He saved us from our struggles, our dilemmas, our quandaries. He saved us from all our fears and anxieties. He replaced all of our stuff, our worries and wounds, our troubles and tribulations, with his heart of love, with himself.
All we have to do is say, “Yes!” Then we can receive and live in him. There is full security there. There is full protection and provision there. And there is that peace that transcends, that surpasses all understanding there.
Does he make all the struggles go away? No. Does he put us in the place of bliss, of peaches and cream? Not yet. What he does do is guarantee that he will walk with us through all of the struggles, through all of the pain, through life. That – and I might add, that alone – is worth saying yes to.
From John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life…” He is the One who brings perspective; full, complete, correct and healthy perspective. Say yes to Jesus today. And if you already have, then press into and invite him afresh into that yes.