Look Up, Look Down

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath;

- Isaiah 51

In the midst of Israel's troubles . . . during a time of decline of the Kingdom . . . 

But let's stop right there and muse on a few things.

I just mentioned the decline of Israel, and by extension, of Judah. To the people of Israel at the time, it all seemed so sudden. There was freedom from Egypt, the wandering in the desert, the settling of the Promised Land, the defending and expansion of borders, the establishment of a Kingdom, the growth of prosperity and peace, and then just like that . . . it was over.

It all happened over the course of a couple hundred years or so. 

Like all great nations. They grow over a few generations. They are at their pinnacle for a few generations, and then they decline. Nothing is static. Your nation (and therefore, your lifestyle and prosperity) is either going up or down. But it does not stand still.

My grandfather, who I remember well, died in 1968 when I was 8. He was born in 1898. He could have recalled his own grandmother, who was born about 1838 and died around 1909, when he was eleven. And then her grandfather never left Wales, and spent most of her life prior to the year 1800. There you go - over two hundred years captured in three lifetimes. My Great-Great grandmother could have shared stories of the old country, that could have been handed off to my grandfather, almost word for word, in clear detail.

We're only a couple of degrees away from the American Revolutionary generation. 

With everything being so transitory, and with all the good things in our lives so close to eradication, take some advice from the Lord Himself. 

Lift your eyes to the Heavens. Look at the earth beneath. That's perspective.

The problems of this world are temporary. Even more temporary than the good things. The good things are tastes of eternity. 

But look up, and down, and all around. It is all much bigger than we know.