Where are you looking?

It's been a while since I've really ridden my bike. Sure, I've done a couple miles here and there, but nothing actually worthy of being called "a bike ride".After some necessary tune-ups (courtesy of leaving it unused in the garage), it was ready to be ridden again. The problem was, I wasn't sure I was ready again.The cliche "it's just like riding a bike" infers that muscle memory will kick in, and suddenly, it will be as though I was never apart from the bike. But still. What if I fell?  A few miles into the Santa Fe trail, just as I was feeling comfortable on the bike, we came to a patch with steep(ish) hills and uneven terrain. (This would be a good point to mention that I am not an adrenaline junkie and going downhill rapidly incites more fear than thrill.)Joe, who graciously took the lead on the ride, turned back with a simple reminder to get me through the next patch of terrain:

Where you look, you'll go.

These words—offered as advice to help me remember not to get distracted by the scenery and end up crashing as a result—hit me on levels so much deeper than biking.Where you look, you'll go. These five words served as a simple and poignant reminder that where I turn my attention and fix my gaze is where I'll end up going.These five words gently warned me not to succumb to tunnel vision, to be so preoccupied with the tasks in front of me that I lose sight of who I'm doing them for.These words brought to memory a verse from my favorite Psalm:

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”Your face, Lord, I will seek. (Ps. 27:8)

They also reminded me of a verse in Deuteronomy:

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deut. 4:29)

  So easily, I look to the things the Lord has placed in my life, rather than looking to the Lord himself. I get caught up in what he's asked me to do, turning my gaze towards to-do lists rather than locking eyes with my king. He promises that those who seek him will find him—and that's what I want to do.Seeking him earnestly—drowning out the world—may be far harder than riding a bike, but it's infinitely more rewarding.This is my prayer in response to these five simple words:

Lord, help me to look where you're leading. Let me earnestly seek your face. Give me grace when I'm distracted by doing things for you rather than simply being with you. Thank you that you're a God who wants to be found, who reveals himself to those who seek him. May I decide daily to look to you, because you are the only destination I want to find.

My prayer is also that the words, "Where you look, you'll go" serve as a sweet reminder to you this week. We serve a God worthy of seeking who wants to be found. It all starts with a simple look.