Transformational Thought
We were driving from the Isle of Skye to the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. Beautiful scenery, driving through the Highlands and seeing some waterfalls and lush green landscape alongside the windy, scenic roads. Stopping for fish and chips at a small fishing town. Everything on this 7-hour trip was going great until we added a PB&J; snack. Nine year old Dominique got so carsick she vomited all over the back seat and on Nicole. First time she ever threw up.
Have you ever been carsick? Weird feeling. The primary reason for carsickness is that as the car races along, passengers are not able to focus on a solid object. But who is the one person in a car that never gets sick? The driver. Why are drivers protected? They are focused on the road ahead, looking intently at the solid objects outside the car that aren’t bouncing and turning. They have a good sense of where the horizon is. Their vision, their perspective, their worldview is grounded in something unchanging – the horizon.
In carsickness, the main problem is the conflicting data between our eyes, our inner ear motion receptors, and the motion receptors throughout our body in the tissues below our skin. When we intentionally walk, all 3 of these areas are in sync and focused on a common motion task, therefore, motion sickness doesn’t exist.
The key is in the word focus. When we are focused … intentionally walking forward and not distracted in several different directions … not confusing our inner systems, no motion sickness occurs. Are we focusing on Christ … who never changes … or are we focusing on the circumstances that keep turning and swirling, and change with each wind that blows? Focusing on Jesus will bring much-needed direction and get rid of some of the motion sickness we experience on our spiritual journey.
Today, when you are faced with adversity, on what truths or principles will you focus? Are they from the grounded, tested truths of the Bible? Or are they flimsy, vacillating, imitations from this world? Are you focusing too much on external circumstances instead of your inner relationship with God? Feeling carsick on your spiritual journey is a warning sign that you aren’t focused on the absolute truth. Re-orient and focus back on the cross and God’s promises, and bring this focus to those trouble areas. WITHIN REACH will teach you skills and self-assessment tools to keep you focused on God in all your everyday activities and decisions.
Prayer
My Father and my Lord, I know I have been focusing too much on problems instead of on Jesus. And as the circumstances around me change, I have become confused and discouraged … I am almost constanly “car sick.” I am bouncing from one crutch to another, looking for answers in so many wrong places. Help me fix my eyes on Jesus. I pray this and all prayers in the name of the one who focused only on You, Jesus Christ; and all God’s children say – AMEN!
The Truth
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2