Stepping Stones: Are You Carsick on Your Spiritual Journey?

February 9, 2012

Transformational Thought

My father-in-law emigrated here from Scotland, so most of Martine’s family still lives there. We have been blessed to go to Scotland twice. On one of those trips, we were driving from the Isle of Skye to the Mull of Kintyre. As we drove through the Highlands we saw beautiful views … waterfalls and lush green landscapes with some Highland Coos alongside the windy, scenic roads. We stopped for fish and chips at a small, quaint fishing village. Everything on this 7-hour trip was going great until we added a PB&J snack. At that point nine-year-old Dominique got carsick and vomited all over the back seat and on Nicole. It was the first time she ever threw up.

Have you ever been carsick? It’s a weird feeling. The primary reason for carsickness is that as the car races along, passengers are not able to focus on a solid object. But who is the one person in a car that never gets carsick? The driver. So why are drivers protected? They are focused on the road ahead, looking intently at the solid objects outside the car that aren't bouncing and turning. They have a good sense of where the horizon is. Their vision, perspective, and worldview are grounded in something unchanging – fixed objects and the horizon.

In carsickness, the main problem is the conflicting data between our eyes, our inner ear motion receptors, and the motion receptors in the tissues below our skin. When we intentionally walk, all 3 of these areas are in sync and focused on a common motion task, therefore, motion sickness doesn’t exist. When we are a passenger in a car, these sensory tools get out of sync and confusion leads to sickness.

The key is in the word focus. When we are focused … intentionally walking forward, not distracted in several different directions and confusing our inner systems, no motion sickness occurs.

Obviously, the same phenomenon happens to us spiritually. Are we focusing on Christ … who never changes … or are we focusing on the circumstances that keep turning and swirling … changing as the wind blows? The merry-go-round of life keeps spinning and our focus is on temporary, amorphous, fleeting, slip-through-your-fingers answers. Then we wonder why we feel lonely, overwhelmed, frustrated, purposeless, devalued. These are all symptoms of Spiritual Carsickness. Focusing on Jesus will bring much-needed direction and get rid of some of the motion sickness we experience on our spiritual journey.

Today, when you face adversity, on what truths or principles will you focus? Are they from the grounded, tested truths of the Bible? Or are they flimsy, vacillating, imitations from this world? Are you focusing too much on external circumstances instead of your inner relationship with God? Feeling carsick on your spiritual journey is a warning sign that you aren’t focused on the absolute truth. Re-orient and focus back on the cross and God’s promises, and bring this focus to those trouble areas. WITHIN REACH will teach you skills and self-assessment tools to keep you focused on God in all your everyday activities and decisions. Life is your decision, so choose well.

Prayer
My Father and Lord, I know I have been focusing too much on problems instead of on Jesus. And as the circumstances around me change, I have become confused and discouraged … I am almost constanly “car sick.” I am bouncing from one crutch to another, looking for answers in so many wrong places. Help me fix my eyes on Jesus. I pray this and all prayers in the name of the One who focused only on You, Jesus Christ; and all God’s children say - AMEN!

The Truth
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2