Fix Your Eyes on…Spiders?
Back in the day, I spent two summers as a Camp Luther counselors. Each week, I would be responsible for anywhere from 6-12 girls, and each week, I had to do something I dreaded.
I had to take them on a campout.
Now, let me explain. I did not dread camping out. I like to campout. That’s one of the reasons I work at a camp. And at Camp Luther, we camped out in style. We got to stay in what were called tent villages. Each tent village had four big giant canvas tents. Each tent had two bunk beds in it. And the tents themselves were on platforms off the ground.
So no, I didn’t dread the camping out part of camping out. I dreaded the campers. Because without fail, every single time, each group of campers did the exact same thing. Allow me to reenact.
“Okay campers, here we are at the tent village. We’re going to have so much fun! I even brought s’mores! Go get your sleeping bags set up in the tents while I start the fire, okay?”
Cut to: the campers. “SPIDER!!!! Frisbee-I can’t sleep in there. The spiders going to crawl on my face. I want to go back. I don’t want to camp out.”
Every single time.
It did not matter if there was a single, lone spider in the darkest corner of the tent. They would find it. Do you know why? Because they were looking for it. And if you look for spiders, you will find spiders. They fixed their eyes on spiders, and it ruined their camping experience.
What do you fix your eyes on? Because all of us, you see, have spiders in our life. Now, before you start squirming, I don’t mean actual spiders. But we each have things in our life that we choose to fix our eyes on.
What is it for you? What directs your thoughts, your attention, your energy? Are you stressing out about school, about your parents, about not having enough money or sleep or time? Are you worrying about your friends, about your problems, about your future? Are you feeling down because it seems like you don’t fit in, seems like nothing you do is working, seems like no one understands you and you’re alone?
God tells us to fix our eyes on something else. He doesn’t want us focusing on spiders-He wants us focusing on what gives our life hope and meaning. What does he tell us to do? “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…”
You see, God knows us. Think of the person in your life who knows you best. Maybe it’s your significant other. Maybe it’s your best friend. Maybe it’s your mom. Maybe your Mom is your best friend. God knows you even better than that. And he knows that when we focus on the bad stuff in our life, the worries, and the problems, and the fears, our mistakes…it drags us down. It chains us up.
After several campouts at Camp Luther, with the same thing happening, I changed my strategy. When we arrived at the camp site, I told my campers this: “You have one minute to run into your tent and throw your sleeping bag on a bunk. Do not shine your flashlight in the corner. Do not shine your flashlight on the ceiling. Bunk bed. Sleeping bag. Out.” And so after one minute, they had to come out and sit by the fire. I wanted their minds to be on hanging out with their friends, and eating s’mores, and the awesome stars in the sky. I didn’t want their thoughts to be on spiders.
And you know what? It worked. No more crying campers. And as a result, they got to enjoy a night of camping out.
Now, were the spiders gone from the tents? No. But my campers were no longer focusing on them. God wants the same thing for you. When you get down, or you mess up, or you’re feeling alone, he wants you to fix your eyes on him. He wants to show you that even though your problems are still there, HE is there too. He’s not going anywhere. And he has stuff planned for you that is bigger than all your problems.
How do you think you do that? What does it look like for you to fix your eyes on Jesus? In the case of my campers, it meant they needed to limit their tent time, only shine their flashlight on the essentials, and spend most of their time out by the fire. What do you think it looks like in your own life to fix your eyes on Jesus?
You want to know how we stick together as a church? It’s right here. By keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. He is the only one who can hold us together even as sin fights to divide us and separate us and make us feel alone.
One final thing. You know who else had his eyes fixed on something? Listen to this.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2)
What was the joy Jesus was fixing his eyes on as he endured the cross? It was us. It was me. It was you. You are Christ’s joy. So fix your eyes on Jesus, knowing that he has fixed his eyes on you, and for the joy of being with you, he endured the cross, and is with you still, even among the spiders of life, and will be with you until the race is run.
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This devotion was written and shared by Frisbee, former Camp Luther counselor and current Program Director at Camp Lakeview in Seymour, Indiana.