During these last 6 years as I’ve been recovering from Lyme disease, the Lord has allowed our family to live in a 2-story home along a busy 4-lane road. Our master bedroom overlooks the traffic and sidewalks, so the hours I’ve spent in bed with migraines give me opportunity to see and hear it all—at least when I haven’t been cocooned in the dark.

Those are hours I would much rather have been engaged in the ministry to which the Lord called me, hours I wanted to be doing “normal” things and, often, hours I cried out with questions about being sidelined with pain.

But they were also hours during which the Lord spoke to my heart. And one of the tools He used to teach me a key lesson was the set of wood blinds hanging in our window.

When I sat up in bed and turned the blinds down, they directed my vision toward the busy street filled with (seemingly) well people going about the business of their day. I could imagine them heading to and from work to support their family, shuttling children to school or practice, or heading out to a dinner date.

Sometimes as I observed those healthy people going about their normal routines in their shiny vehicles, my spirit drifted toward discontentment: I wanted all those things. Self pity crept in, accompanied with envy, and it left me more sick in my heart than I was in my body.

Over the years, it really became a battleground for me until it dawned on me I should change the orientation of the blinds. So one day I simply kept pulling on the adjustment string until the blinds faced heavenward. Now every glance toward the window directed my vision out to the treetops, the clouds, and the sky.

Instantly, there was a very physical aid to my spiritual battle—a way to focus on God’s vastness, goodness, and power. Each time I looked over, I’d try to thank the Lord for something specific I saw or for His control over everything I saw. Now the window became a doorway for worship, rather than the temptation to dissatisfaction.

It’s a simple lesson, but it’s not a new one. An earth-bound focus is foreign and sinful for the Christian. Since we have been raised with Christ, we’re commanded to consciously: “Set your affection [mind] on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1-2). Taking stock of how we’re doing at that is a good thing.

Which direction are your “blinds” tilted today?