Eye Discipline
Last weekend, I took my first step on the path to purchasing a motorcycle. I took a two day safety rider course for motorcycles, and had an absolute BLAST! Motorcycle riding is liberating, exhilarating, and powerful. At the end of the second day of class, it was time for our riding exam. We had practiced U-turns, swerving, emergency stopping, and 90 degree turns, and all of us were able to complete the drills without fault.Yet, something strange happened. When the riding exam rolled around, we started with the U-turn test. When making a U-turn, the rider must turn his head and look at where he wants to go, resisting the urge to stare at the cones and lines directly in front. By doing this, the body automatically steers the bike into a tight turn, and executes the U-turn. As I sat on my motorcycle watching, student after student failed to execute the U-turn that we were all doing easily in practice.What was happening was under the pressure of the exam, the students were all losing their eye discipline. Instead of keeping their eyes focused on where they wanted to go, they were focusing on the problem immediately in front of them. Recognizing this, as I rolled up to the start line, I told myself “Stuart, keep your eyes where you need to go, and don’t think about anything else.” By keeping my eyes disciplined, I completed the U-turn.Eye discipline is a very real thing in our walk with God. How many times do we see a problem in front of us, and focus in on it, instead of on God? How many times do we get pressured and lose our eye discipline? Hebrews 12:2 says “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at right hand of the throne of God.” In Psalms 16:8, we read “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”One of God’s fundamental truths is that He is our rock, our salvation, and the One who brings us to the end of our race. No matter what life throws at us, God simply asks us to keep our eyes focused on Him. By focusing down the road, on God, the problem directly in front of us does not go away, but only then are we are able to navigate it.