I’ve recently been trying to hide from the events of the world by not tuning in the news.  My thinking is that if I don’t have that extra weight hanging on my shoulders, it will free me from the burden.  The truth is, we can’t hide from the world no matter how hard we try.  Even if we were to bury our heads in the sand, someone would come along and kick the sand, causing us to take notice.  We can try to run away to a different place.  We can seek greener pastures. We can flee the city streets, the guns, the drugs and crime, but we are not going to eliminate those things by running from them.  

We do have a means whereby we can escape without ever leaving the comfort of our own space.  Instead of burying our heads, we should look up and reach out to the One who has already carried our load of sin to the cross.  He died for us.  He paid the price.  He redeemed us with His blood and purchased our freedom from death by returning to life and ascending into heaven.  We can look forward to the same after our own death.

God made a promise to His people, right after they fell into sin.  He kept His promise.  He never fails to do so.  We can take that truth to the bank and count on it.  Jesus told His followers to be in the world, but not of it.  That means, we shouldn’t hide from things that occur around us.  We need to be aware, so we can become active in the solving of some of its problems.  It also means that we should not become part of the problem, by participating in the ugliness the world offers.  We can’t escape the news.  It’s part of our world today.  It’s available 24/7 with commentaries and opinions nonstop.  We don’t need to be glued to it every second of that time.  We should remain informed.  We should also be looking for ways to fix it.  We can do that by searching God’s Word for the answers.  He has also promised to be with us in all that we do.  We can be assured of that.

So get your head out of the sand, open your eyes and look up instead of down.  The real joy in this life is waiting up there.

Majestically standing in rows just like soldiers,

With arms reaching up to great heights of the sky,

The trees tower over the rocks and the boulders,

They almost touch heaven and don’t even try,

What if we would turn our heads and our eyes,

To the mighty Creator with voices and cries,

Would He heed to our voices and answer our prayers,

Would He take away all of our fears and our cares,

Sometimes it may seem that He’s too far away,

That He’s too much to do than to hear what we pray,

Prayers don’t go unanswered when we ask from within,

He listens to us and forgives all our sin,

So lift up your eyes, to the sky up above,

God knows what you need and He’ll answer with love.