Keep Your Head Up

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth”

(Psalm 121:1-2)

If you were to walk into a classroom, gym, office cubicle, or any facility that expects productivity, you likely would see something “motivational.” You may see cliché signs blaring “no pain, no gain!,” “hang in there!,” or the classic- “nothing worth having, comes easy.” Although likely over said and now defunct, these signs once served their purpose. They were hung up, then somebody got necessary energy from it, and then as they lived their life, encouragement became a daily rhythm that no longer motivated them.

Let me put it another way. Maybe life feels more like a search for motivation than it does a resume of victories. I get that. Let me offer this advice which never gets old. 

“Keep your head up.”

Your child gets cut from the football team? Keep your head up. Someone else got the position at work you wanted? Keep your head up. No matter how hard you try, your wife and you still can’t seem to get along? Keep your head up. This advice seems like a cliché just as well as the others, but consider for a moment its significance.

Things change when you simply lift your head up.

I like to think in terms of sports. As a lifelong wrestler, I know when you put your head down, you are opening yourself up to be pinned. As a runner, when you put your head down, 9 times out of 10, it ain’t coming back up. You are gassed. In basketball, defenders do not stop stealing the ball just because you refuse to be aware of their presence. When boxing, even when you bob and weave, you keep your eyes up and your hands mobile.

Keep your head up. 

Moses was a man of God, who lived for God’s purpose. He led the Israelites out of slavery, governed them, and delivered God’s Holy Law unto the people. Saying this, there was a time where because of His disobedience, God forbid Moses from entering into the land promised to the Israelites. Nonetheless, Moses never stopped seeking and even died looking at it, knowing that his offspring would receive it (Deuteronomy 34).

God did not take Moses to this site for him to look down rejected at the ground. This was a reminder of God’s faithfulness and faithfully he lifted his head. You see, the heroes of the Jewish and Christian faith were men and women who responded faithfully to the sacred nudge to, “keep your head up” (Hebrews 11:13).

The apostle Paul literally lost his head in the hands of the Romans but even in the midst of a stark reality, he kept his eyes set on where the Gospel was needed – Spain (Romans 15:23-24). You may ask if he ever made it and the likely answer is no, however the truth is that he kept moving by keeping his eyes set on where he had to go. Every time his head was down, he remembered to keep his head up, only bowing his head in sovereign reverence of his king, Jesus Christ.

Be the one to pray in the midst of adversity, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help…” (Psalm 121:1).