Are You in Need of
a Head Lift?
By Elin Henderson
“…My glory, and the One who lifts up my head.”
Psalm 3:3b (NIV)
By Elin Henderson
“…My glory, and the One who lifts up my head.”
Psalm 3:3b (NIV)
I recently came across this verse during a particularly down
time in my life. We all have faced times like these and I can think of no
better word picture then to say my head was hanging low.
Let me ask, though, what is so wrong with our heads hanging low? Nothing in itself—we all face down times. However, how would you live if your head literally hung low all the time? Imagine looking down and trying to walk around a busy street. Your sense of direction would be way off and you would risk hurting yourself and others around you. You would only see one thing—yourself. Would you be aware the needs of others around you? Would you know where you were going or how to get there? No! Your focus would be you!
The world offers all sorts of solutions to the very common problem of a downcast mood: exercise, caffeine, sugar or NO sugar, movies, coffee with friends, or my favorite, “Lay down and relax…imagine you are on a tropical island. Listen to the waves upon the shore and the breeze blowing through the palms…” I have found that this technique only works when you don’t live in the tropics with breezes blowing through your palms night and day! What they fail to add to that picture is the heat, humidity, mosquitoes and lack of privacy!
The word picture found in Psalm 3:3-4 is one that we can and should meditate on, though: “But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.” Wonderful hope lies in these verses. What we are most in need of in low times is a “head lift”! God alone can lift our head and help us to look upward and outward, keeping our eyes off of ourselves and on Him. When we cry to Him, we can know that He hears us and will answer with His free “head lifting service,” placing us on solid ground with a good view of the road before us and the world around us.
Now, I am not saying that other “coping mechanisms” aren’t helpful. A hot bath, a good chick flick and dark chocolate are all helpful sidekicks. Of course, if you live in the tropics, the hot bath is kind of out and dark chocolate is not found at the local market—but at least we’ve got chick flicks! No matter our coping preference, may we never lose sight that He alone is the true lifter of our heads!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What in your life is bringing you down today, causing your head to hang low? What can you do to re-focus on the One who is the lifter of your head?
FURTHER READING:
Psalm 24:7-10
Let me ask, though, what is so wrong with our heads hanging low? Nothing in itself—we all face down times. However, how would you live if your head literally hung low all the time? Imagine looking down and trying to walk around a busy street. Your sense of direction would be way off and you would risk hurting yourself and others around you. You would only see one thing—yourself. Would you be aware the needs of others around you? Would you know where you were going or how to get there? No! Your focus would be you!
The world offers all sorts of solutions to the very common problem of a downcast mood: exercise, caffeine, sugar or NO sugar, movies, coffee with friends, or my favorite, “Lay down and relax…imagine you are on a tropical island. Listen to the waves upon the shore and the breeze blowing through the palms…” I have found that this technique only works when you don’t live in the tropics with breezes blowing through your palms night and day! What they fail to add to that picture is the heat, humidity, mosquitoes and lack of privacy!
The word picture found in Psalm 3:3-4 is one that we can and should meditate on, though: “But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.” Wonderful hope lies in these verses. What we are most in need of in low times is a “head lift”! God alone can lift our head and help us to look upward and outward, keeping our eyes off of ourselves and on Him. When we cry to Him, we can know that He hears us and will answer with His free “head lifting service,” placing us on solid ground with a good view of the road before us and the world around us.
Now, I am not saying that other “coping mechanisms” aren’t helpful. A hot bath, a good chick flick and dark chocolate are all helpful sidekicks. Of course, if you live in the tropics, the hot bath is kind of out and dark chocolate is not found at the local market—but at least we’ve got chick flicks! No matter our coping preference, may we never lose sight that He alone is the true lifter of our heads!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What in your life is bringing you down today, causing your head to hang low? What can you do to re-focus on the One who is the lifter of your head?
FURTHER READING:
Psalm 24:7-10
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin Henderson
(a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as church planters with New
Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is
mother to sixteen-year-old Callie and fourteen-year-old Elias.
