Keep your Eye on the Bell

Nine-year-old Zoe surprised me when she said she wanted to attempt the rock-climbing wall. I watched her harness up, admiring my granddaughter’s adventurous spirit. Once secure, she started the climb but didn’t get far when she began to struggle. Flailing, she finally pushed off and eased the rope to let herself down. Her face wore defeat and her lower lip quivered as she listed all the reasons she didn’t make it to the top. The footings were uneven, the wall grazed her knee, she got confused where to step next and which rock to grasp. We stood back and watched others nimbly climb the wall and ring the bell at the top, proclaiming their success. I knew Zoe would try again.

This time she scaled the wall easily and grinned down at me when the bell rang out her victory. Once her feet were back on the ground, I asked her why she succeeded this time. “I didn’t look at the footings at all and I shook it off when I hit the wall,” Zoe said. Then she added the zinger, “I just kept looking up at the bell.” Zoe learned a lesson that day that extended beyond a rock-climbing wall.*

Obstacles, insecurities, and fear are glaringly visible and hard to ignore. But God offers us a way to move past them that requires simple action but determined willpower. Isaiah gives us the key in chapter 40, verse 26:

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens.

In essence he’s saying, take your eyes off your problem and look up at your Creator. Let your focus be on the Problem-Solver, not on the problem. This simple action will change your perspective, raise your spirit, and give you hope.

*Taken from I Was Broken, Too, Four Paths to Restore Hope by Barbara Higby, page 20.