"When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." (Acts 7:54-60).
Have you ever seen someone standing on the sidewalk staring straight up at the sky, so you stop walking and look up also? You might even say, "What are you looking at?" Especially if you don't see it right away.
This is the story of Stephen. He was being persecuted for preaching the truth. They were doing all manner of evil against him. He could have fought back. He could have held his head down and cried. He could have just shut his eyes and waited for it to all be over. He didn't do any of those things. It says he looked up. As he looked up, God allowed him to see into heaven and God on the throne and Jesus at His right hand. He kept his eyes on the Lord the whole time. He even told them what he saw, and they began to stone him to death. They did not want to hear what and who he saw. This made them angry. This was a gruesome way to die. Imagine having rocks thrown at you until you died. These rocks would knock out teeth, break bones, hit the face, the head, wherever they could hit. It would be agonizing, to say the least. Yet, he kept his eyes on the Lord. He looked up when things were looking down for him. He didn't focus on his circumstances. He didn't look at his hopeless situation. He didn't curse those who were killing him. He didn't fight back. He stood there, looking up at the Lord. This made them even more angry,so no doubt, they threw bigger rocks even harder at him. He continued looking up, then prayed for them. He prayed that God would forgive them for what they were doing for him. Wow! He could not have prayed that prayer if his eyes had not been on the Lord. He saw God in his situation and was able to have a heart of compassion for those angry people who were taking his life.
"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).
David knew where to look in times of trouble. He knew that looking anywhere but to the Lord would not help him. He knew that only looking to the Lord and staying focused on Him, would help him in any situation.
Hard times come to all of us. That is part of life. We will have battles and trials. We will have sad times. There will be times that people will hurt us. What will we do? Will we fight back with our words of accusation and hatred? Will we get angry at them and look for a way of revenge? Or, will we look to the Lord, our only hope and trust Him to see us through? When these hard times come to you, where will you look? Will you focus on the situation and the battle raging around you, or will you look to the Lord for your strength, hope, joy, peace and deliverance?
What are you looking at?
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