Lift Up Your Eyes
The wind whipped and roared, shuddering our sturdy, steel-framed cement building that stands atop a hill; rattling the thick, impenetrable floor-to-ceiling glass windows that provided a fortified barrier between our living room and the heavy rains that threatened from the outside. The wind—I had never heard such loud wind—tore through jungle-dense thickets that clothe the island and shredded the leaves off banana trees that linger below our home; all of which then decorated our balcony, windows, and, admittedly, parts of our living room (due to an adventurous marine husband who wanted to feel what one-hundred plus mile-per-hour winds felt like…and I couldn’t let him have all the fun, so of course I joined him.)
Typhoon Khanun, as this raging conglomeration of winds and rain was called, recorded itself as the most aggressive Category 4 storm to plow through Okinawa in the last five years—clocking winds at 137 to 150 miles per hour—and, paradoxically, claimed the title of the slowest storm Okinawa has endured—hovering by at a speed of six to fifteen miles per hour for a six-day stint. For context, Okinawa is only sixty-seven miles in length and varies from two to seventeen miles in width. My point in including these details is to emphasize that the storm, moving as slowly as it did, over such a wisp of an island, had a much greater damage potential than if it had just swiftly passed through.
Ironically, even with the 150-mile-per-hour winds and heavy rains for nearly a week, Okinawa actually did not incur as much damage as one may presume. Out of 1.5 million people residing on the island, only sixty-eight injuries and two fatalities (which may or may not have been typhoon related) were recorded. However, that’s not to say Okinawa was left unscathed—vegetation and debris littered the roads, trees were down, cars were damaged, power lines were down, and some areas saw flooding and landslides. According to ABC News, “Category 4 storms can cause ‘catastrophic damage’ with their 130-156 mph winds. A Category 4 storm can cause severe damage to well-constructed homes, including damaging most of the roof and exterior walls.” We didn’t see any of this. While Okinawa triumphantly endured, she was not left without wear and tear, and there would be scars. But how in the world did a Category 4 storm not have a hold over her? The infrastructure of Okinawa is built to withstand and endure such storms.
As are we.
In Romans chapter 5, Apostle Paul infamously writes, “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (My version is ESV. KJV also says ‘endurance,’ and NIV says ‘perseverance.’)
Oxford Languages lists two definitions for Endure:
Suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently.
Synonyms: withstand, go through, bear, sustain, stand for, abide
Remain in existence; last.
Synonyms: abide, persist, remain, survive, eternal, prevail, steadfast, unwavering, unfaltering, unchanging, constant, firm
Just minor nuances between the two definitions, yet both beautifully profound in describing the calling upon Christians. And these are merely human definitions; “as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so God’s ways are higher than our ways; His thoughts, our thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).
If we are devoted Jesus followers who have completely given Him our lives and abide in the Spirit, we are called to endure. We are called to tribulation and “trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). Jesus promised, “...In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 ESV). If we are faithfully called to tribulation, are we not also faithfully equipped and faithfully accompanied by our all-authoritative God who knows what we need ever before it’s on our lips (Psalm 139:4)? If Okinawa’s infrastructure is built, by the hands of man, to withstand storms of intense magnitude, are we not built and equipped, by the Hands of a loving Father and Creator, to endure intense trial and tribulation?
Yes, we absolutely are.
Although I knew this in my head, I truly learned this in my spirit in a deeply anguished place; the Holy Spirit as my Comforter, Teacher and Counselor. Since moving to Okinawa as a new wife and becoming a new mom, I dare say the trials bear many resemblances to the aforementioned typhoon. High-speed winds that condescend and oppress, lingering at a saunter, and just when it clears it boomerangs back for more. After our daughter, Aria, was born on July 11, 2022, my husband deployed four times within a span of seven months. The first time was when she was five weeks old for two weeks; the second, 2.5 months old for three weeks; the third, 4.5 months old for one week; the fourth, seven months old for two months. Ironically, my husband’s unit typically does not deploy this frequently in such a condensed time frame. But for some reason, at such a time as this when I needed my husband most, it was so. There were many moments I was embittered by this because I didn’t understand God’s intention—freshly postpartum, struggling with breastfeeding, thousands of miles away from family, no support, isolated on a small island in the middle of the pacific, a beautiful baby girl placed in my arms, a previously-unfathomable level of simultaneous love and exhaustion I had never known or thought possible, and THIS was the year for multiple back-to-back deployments.
Lord, how do I endure well? I have pondered this question in my own various trials here in Okinawa, and the Holy Spirit has been clear in His instruction. There is only one answer and it’s this: Daughter, lift up your eyes. Keep your eyes on ME.
John chapter 17 says this: When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven…” (v. 1). For context, Jesus had just promised His disciples that they will have tribulation (16:33), and He was about to be betrayed and arrested, then fileted for the sake of humanity. Jesus knew what was to come, He knew the tribulation ahead, He knew the very teeth that would gnash him; the tongues that would mock and blaspheme Him; the wrists that would repeatedly lacerate the skin on his back; the very fingers that would pluck out His beard; the hands that would drive the nails through Him. Yet, His eyes were heavenward, enduring even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8), seeing his work through to the very end; even as the Father was silent.
Our King is who we take our cues from. Our King is who we keep our eyes fixed on. Knowing what was to come, He lifted up His eyes. And that’s exactly what we are to do—at all times. Therefore, we pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and lift up our eyes (Psalm 121) to “Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). He WILL carry His work onto completion (Philippians 1:6). Just as He modeled, he will so forth do in us. What a kindness, the clarity of our King, to weave into the Word the imagery of the Son lifting up His eyes.
Contrarily, scripture tells us what happens when we take our eyes off of Jesus. This instance takes place during a literal storm in the Sea of Galilee, and while there is plenty to metaphorically unpack here as it pertains to storms and tribulation, I want to focus on Peter. Jesus is walking towards them on the sea, the disciples are terrified because they think he’s a ghost, and Peter, in his boldness, says, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water… [Jesus] said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind…” Matthew denotes that Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, and when that happened he began to sink: “...he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out…” (v. 28-30). Fear and lateral distractions derail us from our pursuit of Christ and our ability to endure well. Peter saw the wind, averted his eyes from Jesus to the intensity of the waves—the same waves that obey the One his gaze had been fixed upon—and fear pried him down.
Lastly, Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John with him to a high mountain where he was transfigured before them in the company of Moses and Elijah. The Father spoke, and the three disciples “fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise and have no fear.’ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only” (Matthew 17:6-8).
Distractions die when we faithfully lift up our eyes and fix them on Jesus. Distractions of our past, present, and future lose their power, for the scripture says they saw no one but Jesus only. The Word included IN the Word of God that when we lift up our eyes, we will see no one but Him. Grace is an enormous target, and He doesn’t hide His face from us. We are called upwardand forward in Christ Jesus, so with our hearts bowed low in reverence and our eyes lifted up to the Throne, the things of earth fade.
So, brothers and sisters, “stand, therefore” (Ephesians 6:14). Stand in your God-given armor, going head first with the Sword of the Spirit, and hold fast to that to which you have been called in Christ Jesus. For the sake of the Kingdom, we are called to endurance. Enduring well is to lift up our eyes wherever we find ourselves in the winds of tribulation. When the storms of life on earth condescend and oppress, and when they subside, we lift up our eyes with the confidence that “He who calls us is faithful” (1 Thessalonians 5:24), for Jesus said “By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:19). If He calls us, He equips us, and surely He will deliver us. He stands beside us and strengthens us (2 Timothy 4:17); He will never leave us nor forsake us. By God, our infrastructure is built to withstand and endure such storms. We must keep our eyes on Jesus.
And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Matthew 17:8
“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 | ESV
