Have you ever tried to watch a football from ground level? It is difficult to tell what is going on, how many yards there are to go, where the ball is, etc. The view is distorted, which is why coaches are sent to watch from the top and then communicate what is going on with those on the ground, so the sideline coaches can make better decisions.

The same is true for day to day life. Unless you take the time to go a little higher, to sit and watch from a distance, it is difficult to determine which way you are going.

Some days leave us feeling like a mouse in a maze, wondering if we are making one bad decision after another because we cannot see far enough to know where we are heading. After slamming our heads into the wall a few times, we deduct that there must be a better way.

I often wonder if God isn’t looking down on us in this way – watching what we are doing and trying to warn of obstacles that lay ahead, hoping to keep us focused, and trying to communicate with us so that we can make better decisions. During periods of uncertainty and transitions in our lives, it is difficult to know what to pray for, or even how to pray.  Sometimes, life doesn’t make much sense from down here.

At the very least, we can pray for a better view – a higher place – and enough distance to see our options more clearly. One of my favorite scriptures for times such as this is Psalm 61:2 which says, “From the ends of the earth I call to you. . . Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:2) Even Jesus had to find ways to reach higher for understanding.

Dear God,  Sometimes we wish we could sit beside you, to see what you see and know what you know. But at other times, we recognize that you are the only one who can be trusted with our future. Lead us to a place where we can see your will more clearly.  Take us to a place where we are no longer distracted by what we see in front of us and we can focus on the bigger picture. Forgive us when we struggle. Deep down, our only desire is to please you, from wherever you are watching. In Jesus Name, Amen

Question: Have you been listening for God’s warnings lately?

About this Author: Janet Morris Grimes

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free?’” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed”” John 8:31-36

According to man’s thinking, freedom means being able to choose or act with few if any restraints, limits or accountabilities. According to God’s view, this definition is actually a description of rebellion, where submission to authority is rejected and people all do as they see fit. (Judges 21:25) True freedom – being free from bondage to sin – is found only through Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:16-17)

The first step to freedom is recognizing where we are not free, that is, areas where we remain imprisoned. People who have not received Christ as Savior are in bondage to unbelief. They can neither believe God nor trust the promises of Scripture. Sin has blinded their eyes to the truth that they need a Savior.

Even Christians can find themselves in bondage, especially with regard to subtle kinds of enslavement. Feeling inferior is a type of bondage that can dictate how we respond to people. Insecurities can color our responses to life’s challenges and alter our ability to think or act; they also will affect our ability to trust and obey God. Furthermore, feelings of worthlessness or rejection can inhibit our Christian witness.

God wants us walking in freedom. Scripture reveals that we are set free when we know our position in Christ, our person in Christ, and our possessions in Christ. The path to discovering these truths is found only through the living Word of God. (John 8:31-32) Meditating on the eighth chapter of John is a good place to embark on freedom’s road. Its truths will set us free!

Question: In what way are we set free by knowing Jesus personally?

About this Author: Charles Stanley

Maybe the clash of cultures was too great for us to bear. My mother was always unhappy for leaving her family behind, and my father never succeeded in anything, no matter how hard he tried. He was very strict and did not allow any freedom in our lives (friends, parties, boyfriends etc.). They are divorced today.

I was never “one of the girls,” never had money for clothes, going out, etc. I had no social skills; I was very shy and passive and I did not have friends. My schoolwork was poor.

Trying to gain control

I started having eating disorders at the age of 15. Food seemed like the only thing I had control over. Anorexia, bulimia and diet pills consumed my life. If I could not be successful, I thought, at least I could be thin.

At the age of 19 I fell pregnant and decide to abort the baby. Afterwards, I tried to study to become something, but I was always interrupted by getting involved in dead-end relationships. I was looking for love and acceptance at any cost. The cost was my health, my education and my sanity. I also developed a great hatred for my father, which affected my whole being. I blamed him for everything that went wrong in my life. I was 21 and I was a failure.

My mother was concerned about me and suggested that I take a year off. I went to South Africa to find myself. In the country of my birth, I felt like I was in a strange land, hardly able to understand the language.

Understanding love

And yet, the family I came to live with showed me incredible love, acceptance and care. I was very shocked by their attitudes, because my family knew nothing but conflict and strife.

On my third day in the country, I went to church with this family. Though the minister spoke in English (my mother tongue is Brazilian) I understood the invitation to find hope, forgiveness and a future through Jesus. This was for me! That day, I invited Jesus Christ to be my Forgiver and Leader.

He set me free from my eating disorders, my fears and insecurities. He delivered me from my hatred to my father, and today we have a good relationship that we have been working on. He has blessed me with a Christian husband who has walked with me on the painful path of healing and restoration, and has accepted me just for who I am: “a lost girl in search of life.”

I got involved with a non-profit organization, which cares for the homeless, fatherless and widows. I enrolled in theology classes, and started to learn about this God who loves and accepts unconditionally. It is now nine years and seven months since I gave my heart to Jesus, and He has transformed me from a passive girl into a totally new woman. I am confident that with Christ, I will never be alone again.

Today my husband and I manage a center that cares for mentally challenged people. I also counsel women who have been through the same things that I have.

I know that life in this world is never going to be perfect, but every day with Jesus is a day to grow and give to others the same comfort that He gave me.

Do you feel lost, trapped, like you do not really belong anywhere? Do you suffer with eating disorders? Do you feel afraid and rejected? Did you have an abortion? Have you encountered broken relationships and family strife? I’ve been there. And I have found that Jesus can bring a healing touch to ALL of it.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to You and ask You to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of woman You want me to be.

Please excuse the repetition, but I want this article to score highly in Google searches.

You see, Google Zeitgeist, the mega-search engine’s report on its most popular search topics, says the heiress scored number one on 2006 Google News searches. The report presents a glimpse of the “spirit of the times,” giving clues to websurfers’ interests.

In news (yes, I said “news,” not “entertainment”) searches, Paris beat Orlando Bloom, cancer, podcasting and Hurricane Katrina. Borat and Hezbollah topped “Who is” searches. Among U.S. searches for “Scandal,” the Duke Lacrosse episode took three of the first four slots.

What else do people want to know about? Google’s top-ten lists in various categories include MySpace, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, Pamela Anderson, Reggie Bush, and Clay Aiken.

Why do celebrities and entertainment rank so high? Perhaps it’s the desire to connect with something larger than ourselves. Maybe boredom explains some celebrity obsession. And don’t rule out diversion.

For some – maybe many – daily life ranges from harried to overwhelming: soured relationships, job conflict, financial pressure, health distress. Diverting focus can ease your troubled mind, at least temporarily.

Of course, everyone needs mental and emotional breaks. Diversion can be a healthy coping mechanism – until it becomes obsessive. Then it can lead to denying reality, perhaps obscuring genuine wants and needs.

Suppose we had a mind/heart/soul reader to discover what people really want once their basic physical needs are met. What would we find? Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s renowned hierarchy of basic needs includes safety, love, esteem and self-actualization.[i] Perhaps our soul reader would detect desires for acceptance, thriving personal friendships, peace of mind, health, security.

Maslow also realized that several profound fears – including the fear of death – trouble humanity.[ii] Our soul reader might find that people also want an answer to death.

Anthropologist Ernest Becker argued in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Denial of Death,[iii] that much human behavior can be explained by a deep desire to deny death’s reality, to repress “the terror of death.” No wonder. Which would you enjoy more, right this minute: contemplating your own death and its aftermath … or reading, exercising, web- or channel surfing, conversing, partying, working, shopping, etc.?

If we don’t have a solution to fear of death, we can invent ways to avoid thinking about it. Alas, attractive and even worthwhile pursuits can become enslaving. Amassing the most “toys”; rat-race schedules; obsession with career, job, education, sports or even friends can insulate people from facing their own mortality.

The biblical book of Hebrews presents a similar analysis of the human dilemma, reasoning that people “have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” [iv] It claims that Jesus died to “deliver” people from this slavery so they might connect with God in time and eternity.

It seems morbid to always be thinking about your own death. But could avoiding it altogether constitute unhealthy denial? Could excessive focus on certain pursuits become risky diversion from life’s real issues, like personal meaning, personal worth, fulfilling relationships, and what Sigmund Freud called “the painful riddle of death”? [v]

Could obsession with Paris Hilton and her Google Zeitgeist pals conceal deep longings, insecurities and fears in individual websurfers and in society at large?

As the esteemed British philosopher and rocker Sir Mick Jagger famously counseled, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometime … you just might find you get what you need.” [vi] A friendly question for my fellow websurfers: Is what you want, what you need?