Lift Up Thine Eyes
Zechariah 1:18
"Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns."
Have you ever had the feeling that something was going to happen, so you covered your eyes so you wouldn't see it? I remember years ago I was watching Joe Theisman, quarterback for the Washington Redskins, break his leg. It was a horrible sight to see. When they started showing the replays I covered my eyes because I didn't want to see it. I have a queasy stomach, so watching that would not have been good for me or anyone else around. Covering my eyes didn't change what happened, it simply kept me from seeing the truth.
What was the difference between Zechariah and the people? The difference was he lifted up his eyes and could see. God told Zechariah to lift up his eyes. The problem with the people of his day was that they kept their heads buried from the truth, and by keeping their heads buried they were not able to deal with the problems they faced. In fact, it made their problems worse. They would rather believe a lie than face the reality of truth.
Reality does not change because you keep your head buried in the sand. Too many people don't want to believe the truth, so they simply keep their head buried so they can't see. Lying to yourself only hurts one person, you! You will never be able to correct problems in your marriage, family, life, church or nation until you lift up your eyes and become honest with yourself. Lying to yourself and saying that your marriage is fine when you have obvious problems is not going to correct the problems. Lying to yourself that your family is a good family when you know in your heart that you have problems will not change the real problems. You can lie to yourself about your own Christianity, but you will never be able to change your spiritual problems until you lift up your eyes and look at reality.
I beg you to stop lying to yourself and face the reality of your problems. As long as you keep your head buried in your hands you will never learn what areas you need to correct. You will only be able to correct your problems when you lift up your eyes and face the cold hard facts of your situation. Sometimes what you see can be ugly, but at least you can start working on it when you see the problems.
Your happiness in life will be determined by how honest you are with yourself. If you will look at your situation with your eyes wide open, then you will be able to correct your problems and make your situation better. Don't allow yourself to live in a lie. Promise yourself right now that you will always lift up your eyes so you can see the truth and correct it.