Looking Beyond

by Dorothy Teague

As I sit and watch the minutes tick away on the clock, waiting for my mother’s surgery, I wonder what is going to happen. She is ninety-six and has fallen and broken her ankle. The doctor said it is the worst break she could have. I have watched her for several days and listened to her anxious thoughts about the surgery. What she has concentrated on the most is getting past the pain, the surgery, the rehab, and onto the day she will be at home again. Of course, we are all hoping and praying for the best, but life is unsure. All any of us can do in life’s most uncertain twists and turns is pray for God to lead us through the trail, and to look beyond the current situation to when life will be better.

I was reading an article during this time of waiting and came upon a parallel to what my mother was doing. For ballet dancers to twirl round and round and not get dizzy and fall, they pick a stationary spot in their environment just beyond them to focus their attention on. This is called “spotting.” As they turn their body at one speed, they hold their head in place and quickly whip it around at the end of each turn, thus varying the speed of the head turn but still fixing their gaze on one spot. Through years of training and practice, they can learn how to ignore “dizzy signals” from the inner ear, which is what controls our balance (Scientific American). In essence, they have found a way to look beyond themselves to avoid the effect of spinning.

In Matthew 14, Jesus is walking on the water to the disciples in the boat. They are unsure of who He is, so Peter puts Jesus to the test, saying, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28). So, Jesus tells him to come. When Peter steps out from the boat and his eyes are on Jesus, he walks on the water. But as soon as Peter looks at the circumstances surrounding him, the wind and the waves, he begins to sink. He sinks as soon as he takes his eyes off Jesus. This is a good visual for us all. Hebrews 12:2 also tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus.” In this verse, we see Jesus looking beyond the cross, the pain, and the shame, to the joy that set before Him when He would be in Heaven with the Father again. Also, in Acts 7, we see the stoning of Stephen. Just before it happened, Stephen looked up to Heaven and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Stephen looked beyond the awful reality and pain of being stoned to gaze upon Jesus. There is a song titled, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” and the following lines read: “Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” If we fix our gaze on Him, everything else has to dim in comparison.

About The Author

Dorothy Teague is a Tennessee native, who resides in McMinn County with her husband, Lewis, on their farm. After completing 31.5 years as a teacher in the Bradley County School System, she is active in her church at Eastanallee Baptist Church where she is a member of the choir and praise team.

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