Looking Beyond

It is said that on one occasion a little chick had just emerged from its shell, and when it came out, it began to look at everything around it. When it looked to the right, it saw marriages falling apart; when it looked to the left, it saw young people lost in the corruption of the world; when it looked straight ahead, it saw the abuse of children; when it looked down, it saw that evil was consuming the earth. So the little chick looked back, saw the shell from which it had emerged, and ran to take refuge in it, as though it wished it had never been born. Many times that is what we do: we shut ourselves inside the shell of fear because we forget to look upward, from where our hope comes.

Today we may ask ourselves, what does it mean to set our minds on things above and not on things of the earth? We can answer this question as follows: setting our minds on things above and not on things of the earth means that:

#1. We must focus our vision on spiritual things and not on earthly things.

I am afraid that today many lenses need to be adjusted because they have lost their focus by looking at the illusory vanities of this world. When we speak of vanities, we are speaking of something vain, something that has no weight. Looking at things that have no weight creates anxiety and fear in us.

#2. We must look with the eyes of faith and not with our physical eyes.

To look at the situations around us with the eyes of faith is to look through God's lens; and even though circumstances tell us otherwise, we can be certain of what God has told us. We must look with God's vision. May what happened to the little chick in the illustration not happen to us.

What does it mean to set our minds on things above?

1. It is looking beyond what is in front of us.

2. Looking beyond what surrounds us, beyond external circumstances; beyond suffering, obstacles, and trials.

3. It is remaining steadfast like Moses, “who endured, as seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27)

4. It is looking with spiritual vision. It is having the vision that God wants us to have.

What is vision?

Vision is having the ability to see things as they should be and not necessarily as they appear at the present time. Vision has several characteristics:

1. Vision focuses on the future: Vision is not moving the past into the future. If what we are doing at the present time is good enough for our future, then we have no vision. All we have are memories that we are trying to relive, changing the methods but doing the same thing. God wants us to do different things because we live in a changing society. The Bible has a forward-looking focus that compels us to look beyond. The Word of God challenges us in such a way that we are forced to grow if we want to make a difference in the coming generations.

2. Vision is centered on purpose: Our purpose answers the question: Why do I exist? Vision formulates a plan of action to fulfill that purpose for our existence. Purpose never changes, but vision changes because needs change.

3. Vision is guided by need: Vision sees the need and moves to meet it. Vision is not fog, it is not a mirage, it is not dreams in the night. It grows as needs arise and provides opportunities to make an impact. It sees needs as opportunities to bring about change that will affect even future generations. The church needs visionary people who have learned to look with the eyes of the spirit, through God's lens, and who dare to meet needs in order to make a difference.

4. Vision involves people: God does the work, but He does it with people. He does not entrust this work to angels, but to human beings. We need people who are consistent and trustworthy, who know how to face challenges, who release their gifts, who see the need and move in faith to meet it.

The Word of God teaches us that when men and women of God set their sights on things above, they received great blessings and gained the victory; Moses, for example. Deuteronomy 2:3 declares that God tells Moses that he and the people must leave the mountain where they had been for a long time. They were in the region of Mount Seir. They were comfortably settled there. But beyond the mountains they would find a prosperous land flowing with milk and honey.

Sometimes we find ourselves like these people: stuck in one place, comfortable where we are, content with our way of life, because we do not dare to venture out and reach new horizons. Perhaps because of fear of the unknown or fear of failure. But God's blessing is flowing abundantly over there, in the place toward which He is stirring us to move. We need only lift our eyes and look beyond the mountains, setting our minds on things above and not on things of the earth.

God wants us to learn to look beyond—to things above, to spiritual things, to things that cannot be seen. He wants us to learn to look with the eyes of faith. To have a broad vision. To look beyond the obstacles and see the victory and blessing awaiting us. To look toward the four points of the compass, as Abraham did, without limitations.

God is looking for people with peripheral vision, like the eagle, who can look around them but who also know how to look toward the heights, where God is, and seek there the answers to their questions.