Did you know that it’s impossible to walk in a straight line when you have your eyes closed?

To walk straight, our brains need to receive signals from our eyes, our ears and our muscles. Sight, sound and action all play a part in keeping us on track. Remove one of these signals and, because the human body is asymmetrical, even when trying our hardest we are incapable of walking straight.

Too many of us try to walk out our lives with our eyes shut, our ears closed and our bodies incapacitated.

We try our best to walk straight: to love fully, to practice patience, to forgive freely… but we’ve shut our eyes to the One who makes it possible. Without Jesus, we’ll be walking around in circles frustrated at the lack of progress we’re making.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)

We need to fix our eyes fully on the One who helps us run our race. That involves looking to Jesus, but also listening to Him and then engaging our bodies to obediently walk out the calling given to us. We can’t walk straight if one of these signals is absent or misdirected to be looking at something else. Similarly, we need to consider carefully who we’re looking to, who we’re listening to and who we’re following if we want to progress in life rather than orbit the same old terrain.  

Lead us, Lord, “make your way straight before” us. (Psalm 5:8 NIV)