Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

Proverbs 4:25-27

I don’t know about you, but my eyes are starting to wander. Wandering to the left and the right, into corners where discontent and despair lie. The desire to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head for a few days – or weeks – calls to me! And I don’t think I am the only one.

Our lives are disrupted in ways many of us have never experienced. Waiting for business as usual to resume wears on me and I find myself needing to find new strategies to combat craziness. Social media and news reports sidetrack me. It all makes me want to throw a genuine, screaming fit.

I believe this verse just might hold a key for me.

My eyes matter!

This I know: what I think about is where I will fix my eyes. And what I meditate on will be where my feet go. And then I am truly sidetracked. It’s hard to stay the course, to keep my eyes on the right path. But standing over here in the weeds – well, I can tells you this isn’t all that great.

I want to stay the course. I want to finish the journey well. I want to fix my eyes on the straight path where peace and joy abound. I want to end every day filled with gratitude. So, here I come. I’m scratched up, covered with sticks and leaves from my tramp through the woods. But here I am!