Which direction (up, down, left or right) would you say best represents help in time of need? Which direction would you say best defines the position of authority? In which direction would you most often flee for safety? Though there are obvious exceptions, “Up” seems to be the most common answer to these questions. e.g. Babies look up to their mother; children to their parents; management generally occupies the upper floors of corporate headquarters; we flee upward to avoid many natural and catastrophic events …and then there is God. If asked to point in the direction of God, most people would lift their index finger upward, toward heaven.
Often, among those who know God personally, you will hear the admonition to “Look Up!” or “Keep Looking Up!” These simple phrases serve as reminders that God is sovereign, that He is in control, that He has a plan that cannot be thwarted, that He loves His own. He is the only one who can “do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think… (Ephesians 3:20) He is the sustainer of the universe, “upholding all things by the word of His power… (Hebrews 1:3)”
But the God of the Bible would also remind us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9)” This reminder is necessary for those who might deem themselves God’s prize, who have embraced the twisted notion that He is the Bible version of a genie in a bottle, and believe that their desire should be His beckoning call.
But God, who is sovereign, created man with a free will. A vital part of His plan is to allow man to live with many of the consequences of his choices. Sin and death were the result—and separation from God. But God devised a way whereby sinful man could be reconciled to Himself by faith in the advocacy of His Son, Jesus Christ. Those who believe are privileged to see things from God’s perspective, …if they will simply Look Up!