Look Up Child

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121: 1-2


For as long as I can remember one of my favorite things has been sunsets, specifically African sunsets. The red dirt in the African air gives a punch of color and vibrance to the painted skies. Early evening is when the heat of the day subsides and makes way for a cool breeze. Businesses close, people head home and there is an almost tangible sense of slowing down and taking note of the day, all that it held and all that it had not been. It's a daily moment to pause, admire, reflect and be grateful.

Last year I got the chance to go home and for the first time in eight years I was back in Zimbabwe with my childhood family unit: my parents and two sisters. We soaked up each and every sunset together, but there was one sunset in particular that is indelibly marked in my memory. We were coming up to the last night of our road trip around Zim, it had been many hundreds of miles, or kilometres as we tend to use, and the hot, dusty day was drawing to a close. The trusty Land Rover bumbled down a dirt track in the middle of the African bush with five very happy passengers. Windows rolled down, evening birds calling, crickets chirping and all of us breathing deeply in the cool night air. As the sun was setting, we were surrounded by a spectacular display of God's creativity and grandeur. Playing softly on the sound system was "Look Up Child" by Lauren Daigle. It was an incredibly fitting song for the moment and my heart took a snapshot for safekeeping.

I have thought so much about that moment and the words of that song throughout the last few months of global upheaval and uncertainty. It has me thinking a lot of Psalm 121 too - where does our help come from? The Lord, the Maker of all of it! He is not shaken, He is not overwhelmed. He is well able and He invites us to look up, watch Him at work and rest in our Father's arms.

So, all that to say, I encourage you, put on the song "Look Up Child" and turn the volume up, open your Bible to Psalm 121 and be reminded, He is in control.

Jolene Larson

No Comments