Don't look right. Don't look left.

When I was out west this summer I went hiking with a dear friend one day.

 

Now, mind you, where I live in the middle of this great nation we don’t have too many mountain ranges, so hiking at home is slightly different than hiking out west.
For example, this is what it looks like when I go “hiking” at home, which I will be the first to admit more closely resembles power strolling.

And this is what it looks like when you go hiking out west:

I know my friend had to have thought I was such a baby (and rightfully so). When we got to the top of our hike she said, “Do you want to go down by the bottom of that little waterfall?” to which I replied, “You know, I don’t think so. I don’t know if my leg muscles will stop spasm-ing enough for me to get back up.” She knew I was an imposter, but luckily she was very gracious.

Now, since where I am from hiking is more like an afternoon jaunt, I was unaware that trails out there look like this:

 

Oh wait, can’t you see it?
It’s that pile of rocks right there.
Yeah, that one. In the middle.

Now do you see what I mean?! And not only that, but look at what was to the RIGHT of me:

 
Let’s just put it this way. One little step in the wrong direction is a long little fall straight down. And you all know how much falling is not my thing.

Needless to say, I saw a lot of this for the rest of the hike.

And as I was moving along, very carefully, very systematically, all I could think about was that passage in Proverbs where it says, “Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” (Proverbs 4:26-27)

All of the sudden this verse made perfect sense. What would have happened if I had swerved to the right or to the left? Bad things.

And how would I have started swerving in the first place?

At one point I was taking in all of the beauty around me, not looking down at my feet, and I did trip a little. And I knew then that swerving to the right or to the left comes from….get this…. looking to the right or to the left.

My friend will tell you that I kept jokingly saying the whole hike, “Don’t look right. Don’t look left.”

But isn’t this the same way with life? The minute we take our eyes off our steps, or take our eyes off our goal (Jesus), the minute we lose our focus, life tends to become a little shaky.

Have your eyes started looking to the right or to the left? Do you feel like you are tottering on a cliff right now?

If your life was a hike up a steep mountain slope, and your livelihood and safety depended on each of your steps being solid and sure, are there distractions that are making you have shifty eyes that just need to go bye-bye? Let’s be honest, kids.

If we were to take a catalog look at our life and compare it to Philippians 4:8 “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” would we be doing ok? Good? Fair? Excellent?

Are some things in your life, ones that could not find itself on the honorable list, being a distraction to you? Making you shaky?

I help a lot of people with house projects and I see some of them holding on so tightly to things in their possession. Getting rid of stuff is hard for them. But some of the times I don’t even think that they like whatever they can’t part with! For whatever reason, they must feel like they need to be loyal to the object, or something like that. Maybe it was given to them by someone, maybe it was inherited, maybe they picked it up along the way somewhere, whatever. And I try to tell them, “Listen, I don’t care if Julia Child herself gave this to you. If it’s ugly and you hate it, get rid of it. Kick it out the door.”

It’s the same in our lives not just our houses, Wolfies. How many things in our life, things that make us look to the right or to the left, distractions, bad habits, non-covenantal relationships, things that make us shaky, etc., how many of those things are ugly and we hate them and really we should just say “Goodbye” to? Because things that make us shaky are things that keep us from standing on the Rock.

I would be lying to you if I said there wasn’t anything in my life that makes me shaky. But I am willing to admit it, which is half the battle. Things and habits that maybe I did inherit, or pick up here and there, that are ugly to my soul and I hate that I struggle with, but really I have a hard time giving it up. I need to be ruthless with those things. I need to be a spiritual minimalist.

I pray to be convinced that looking to the right and to the left will eventually make me fall. I need to know I, too, am susceptible to the tottering heights. And I need to know there is no distraction that is worth that steep little tumble.