Uplook vs Outlook

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7 NKJV)

One of the gifts I received this Christmas was a mug. The picture was of a guy sitting at his kitchen table. The scene outside his window was a dark cloud with a rainstorm going on. The caption reads, “ It’s not the OUTLOOK, but the UPLOOK that counts!

This was a good pick for me, as I can tend to get a bit gloomy now and then. I have been know to sometimes let circumstances dictate my outlook and attitude.

One of the things our pastor talked about this morning was the twelve spies sent in to spy out the promised land. Ten of them were taken by what they saw and reported "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there” (Nu 13:27-28). “We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are. "And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." (Nu 13:31-33)

Two were taken by what God had said. “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel” (Nu 13:2). Their report was "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." (Nu 13:30 NIV)

The ten had their eyes upon circumstances, upon what they could see, the temporal, and made their report based upon that.

The two had their eyes set upon the eternal, the unseen truth behind the seen circumstances guided their report.

Let’s be counted as those who believe God’s Word over their circumstances. Let us not stand upon that which is seen and subject to change, but upon that which is invisible, rock solid, and eternally unchanging. For we live by believing and not by seeing. (2 Cor 5:7 NLT)

It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going. (2 Cor 5:7 MSG)