I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

“Winter driving can be a little scary. We don’t like feeling out of control, and we certainly don’t want a collision. For those of us who rarely drive in snow and ice, it’s easy to forget what we should do and what we shouldn’t. When we hit a patch of ice and go into a skid, experts say we should take our foot off the pedals and look at the place we want to go. So of course, we do the opposite: we hit the brakes and fixate on the very thing we don’t want to hit. 

There is a term for focusing on the obstacles in front of us instead of looking ahead at where we want to go. It’s called “target fixation”. During WWII, the term was used to describe what happened when fighter bombers became so fixated on their target that they forgot to take action, and as a result, they collided with their target. The wrong thing, literally their enemy, had such a strong pull on them that it led them to their death. 

In our walk of faith, many things fight for our attention and leave us skidding in the wrong direction. Our enemy fights hard for our attention and screams so much louder than everything that’s right, everything that is good for us. The things we try to avoid: the fears, the sin, the poor judgment, they entice and seem to pull us right in. And they become the very things that derail our faith. They take our eyes off of what we need and focus them on what we want to avoid. 

The “snowstorms” in your life, the times you feel out of control and find yourself skidding in the wrong direction, remind you that you’re looking at the wrong things! Jesus will determine your direction, but when you fixate on your fears, your worries, and your problems, you’re likely to steer yourself right into them. Instead of spending your time looking at what threatens, what scares you, or all the meaningless distractions of this world, look to your Creator, your Helper, your Protector. In other words, rather than fixating on the things you want to avoid, take your foot off the pedals and look to Jesus! He is the place you want to go; He is where your help and your hope are found! You are loved!