Feeling out of control in life? Overwhelmed and needing a break? Join us for a reset that will help you let go of what’s not serving you, honor your limitations, and turn your gaze toward a God who loves you.
We spend a lot of time looking down, mostly at our phones and sometimes at ourselves. The artificial blue light in our eyes makes us anxious about the world. It makes us chase trends that have nothing to do with who we want to be. It causes us to put time, energy, and brain space into what won’t last.
It’s time to look up. Whitney Lowe is chatting about her devotional Set Your Eyes Higher on today’s episode. Tune in to find new perspectives, purpose, power, and peace. If you’re feeling unmoored because you’ve taken your eyes off of what matters most, the hope you’re searching for is within reach–if you’re ready to look up.
Summary
Whitney Lowe, the author of Set Your Eyes Higher, discusses her journey of starting a ministry and the importance of prioritizing time with the Lord. She emphasizes the need to set boundaries with technology and be intentional about consuming content that aligns with biblical values. Lowe explores the themes of identity, insecurity, wisdom and humility, capacity and burnout, and scarcity and abundance in her book, offering a 40-day reset to slow anxiety and focus on God. The conversation’s principal themes are centered around setting our eyes on God and focusing on His promises and His word. The main takeaway is that we can find freedom, peace, and abundance when we shift our perspective to God and surrender our hearts to Him. The conversation also emphasizes the importance of discerning cultural influences within the church and keeping our focus on Jesus. The chapters can be organized as follows:
ministry, creativity, time with the Lord, boundaries, technology, biblical perspective, identity, insecurity, wisdom, humility, capacity, burnout, scarcity, abundance, setting eyes on God, focusing on promises, surrendering to God, discerning cultural influences, keeping focus on Jesus
Takeaways
- Starting a ministry begins with recognizing a need in the community and being obedient to God’s calling, even if you feel unqualified or inexperienced.
- In a society filled with distractions and busyness, it is essential to prioritize and be intentional about spending time with the Lord.
- Excessive screen time can negatively impact physical and mental well-being, and it is crucial to set boundaries and maintain a healthy relationship with technology.
- Anxiety is prevalent today, and it can be attributed to various factors, including the constant exposure to screens and the pressure to compare oneself to others.
- From a biblical perspective, it is essential to focus on God as the determinant of identity, seek wisdom with humility, recognize personal capacity, avoid burnout, and shift from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance.
- Consuming content that aligns with biblical values and surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals can help shape a positive and God-centered perspective. Setting our eyes on God releases pressure and relieves anxiety.
- God cares enough to reorient our perspective around Him.
- Cultural influences can distract us from the truth of Jesus.
- Setting our minds on things above brings peace and life.
- Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
- Having healthy boundaries around technology is essential.
- Meeting the Lord daily through scripture is essential for quelling anxiety.
- God is a good father and a king who wants us to flourish.
- We must not lose our first love for Jesus.
- Renewing our minds and focusing on Jesus helps us win battle.
- Motherhood can be a sanctifying work that draws us closer to God.
- Recommended resources: ‘Domestic Monastery’ by Ronald Rolheiser and a cup from Roommate.
- Instagram is an excellent platform for community and connection.
Transcript
Rachael Adams (00:01.808)
Welcome to the Love Offering Podcast. I’m so happy to have you.
Whitney Lowe (00:04.703)
Hi Rachel, I’m excited to be here. It’s super fun to talk to people I’ve connected with online or in person. So I’m looking forward to it.
Rachael Adams (00:14.222)
For those who don’t know you, you have Scribble Devos on Instagram, and you’re just so gifted, like your creativity, and so talented in that way. So I’d love to hear when you have always been creative and loved the Lord. I’d love to hear about the beginnings of starting that ministry.
Whitney Lowe (00:32.807)
Yeah. Just two weeks ago, I changed the name from scribble to give us my author name, which I’m excited about. It was very surprisingly emotional, though. But anyway, it did start off a place of more just felt need in my community, feeling like there were a lot of particularly young women who were bringing—concerns and struggles to me. And I would say I was a college religious studies major and married to a pastor. So the easy and true answer is, have you stopped the Lord? Have you opened your Bible? Like, how are you experiencing God for truth? And so much of the time, they would say, I don’t have time, I don’t relate to it, or that’s hard for me. And then I would see them spending all this time on social media with these little screens in front of their face. And so I wouldn’t say I thought of myself as a creative. I knew that I liked processing through writing. But making a graphic was just something I had to do to get that content on social media. From there, you know, I still don’t know too much about graphic design. I’ll be honest. I get many people asking me, can you do graphics for whatever? And I’ll be like, look, I am hacking through Canva. I’m doing my best. But yeah, it’s been cool also to see how God has met that and grown that. Again, I think the whole thing for me has been this theme of bringing God my little loaves and my little fishes and seeing how he has multiplied those things well beyond my abilities. yeah, now I’m starting to come around to this idea that I am a creative, but it’s really just been a crash course with the Lord at the wheel.
Rachael Adams
I’m encouraged by that because I think so many people discount themselves because they’re like, don’t have, you know, I wasn’t given this gift, or I don’t know what I’m doing. And just the fact that you just were obedient. You saw a need and were like, okay, let me, let me learn along the way. And God has blessed that. And I think that that encourages me. And I think probably hopefully the women listening to is like, just begin whatever he’s called you to do. Start, and you’ll learn and grow along the way, and watch what he does with it. And I think you were talking about spending time with the Lord and how it can be in our society. We have so many distractions. We are so busy. And so it can be, if we don’t prioritize it and aren’t intentional, it isn’t easy. And you know, you were sharing: you’re launching a book, your husband’s a campus pastor, you have two young children, and life is really busy.
Rachael Adams (03:15.628)
How are you making time for your own quiet time with the Lord?
Whitney Lowe (03:20.403)
That is such a good question. And it’s been funny to see how God has brought so many of these things back to smack me in face with him gently. I’m just, you know, still very much in progress with a lot of what this book is about and finding a way to make sure that the reality of God’s kingdom is the one that determines how we go about our days. And I think maybe even just recognizing that quiet time is not the end goal in and of itself. Quiet time is a really helpful and effective means to an end. But the end that we’re all in it for is aligning ourselves with the kingdom of God every day so that our decisions our attitudes, and the postures of our hearts are rooted in that peace and that victory that’s already been won instead of being victims to our circumstances or the inconveniences that pop up or the drama of the world around us And I think the Lord has been kind in teaching me just like creative ways to do that, that maybe don’t look like sitting down with the Bible for an hour the way that I like to and am used to. And that’s been very growing because I think if you had asked me five years ago, I would have said it sounds like an excuse. Sounds like someone’s not waking up early enough. But really, to understand that God is a lot bigger than the 15 minutes we would give Him in the morning and that God has sanctified me so much in those moments where I’m tempted to lash out in anger toward my children or those moments I’m tempted to withdraw away from my husband when he needs support from me, which I’m still, again, not a pro at always responding well. Still, God has put me through, I think, a crash course in dying to self in ways that didn’t look the way spiritual growth had always looked for me otherwise. So it’s a complicated answer. I’m still trying to figure out how to healthfully incorporate a rhythm of daily scripture consumption on days I am spent that don’t become another burden. So, I am still processing that, but also recognizing that God will meet us with His word. We are not responsible for telling God when he will show up and what it will look like. Our job is to, I think, remain surrendered.
Rachael Adams (05:47.66)
Yeah, absolutely. Well, so when did you first fall in love with the Lord? Were you brought up in a Christian home, or what’s a little bit more of your backstory?
Whitney Lowe (05:57.289)
I was raised in a Christian home, which is a huge part of how my faith developed after that. And I think it’s been exciting as I’ve gotten older to realize that many people say they come from a Christian home. I come from a Christian home, you know, where I was very aware of my grandparents’ spiritual practices and community from an early age. My parents, you know, are trying to have a healthy church body and Bible studies meeting in our house. And, you know, I remember that since I was probably 10, my parents had a Sabbath practice where we weren’t allowed to be on the TV or screens until noon, which felt like an eternity when I was 11. And then we would go to the beach. We lived in Florida then and would walk for an hour, just trying to be quiet, focusing on the Lord, and realizing how extraordinary that is. This means that having a family that makes that effort and seeks the Lord, however imperfect, is special. So, I think the Lord gave me a mind for his word from a young age. I don’t think I had fully or that God had fully constructed my testimony until later in life and in college through a struggle with an eating disorder. I think that’s where I learned, felt, and experienced all of the theology I knew about sin, fallenness, brokenness, and how the human heart can deceive itself. And God was faithful in drawing me out of that again. And I talk about some of that in this devotional because I think I see that now as such a symptom of having my eyes set on the wrong things. So yeah, since that point in my early 20s, it’s been a bit more of that two steps forward, one step back, ten steps forward, desert season, you know, that I think the hard work of following the Lord happens in. And he’s just continued to show himself faithful. So I’ve had a lot of opportunities to say, okay, God, I will tell the world of your goodness because you’ve shown up here. And yeah, it felt more like a relationship in this last decade of my 20s now that I’m entering my 30s. And that’s been cool. And again, you feel like a personal connection to the Lord instead of feeling like, you know, the high school, this is my testimony. Here’s my low; now I’m up here. This is my high point. And then we’re just chilling. It was a testimony that has turned into a relationship and has been sweet.
Rachael Adams (08:38.805)
Yeah, well, so let’s talk about your devotional. I’m so excited about this. The cover is beautiful. And so it’s called Set Your Eyes Higher. And so this was something, this was a statistic that you all have that you quoted. So it says Americans spend an average of seven hours and three minutes online daily. Yet, despite living in the information age, many people increasingly report that life makes less sense. So, research has found that excess screen time can substantially negatively impact our physical and mental well-being. So, did you experience this yourself? Was this something that you struggled with firsthand?
Whitney Lowe (09:17.801)
Absolutely. Again, I think I experienced it when so much of our lives are on our phone screens, not our computer screens. The real catalyst for thinking through this lens about screen time is I have a friend whose husband is a physical therapist. And when he would visit when we’d get together, I’d always say, wait, why does my neck hurt so bad? Like, why am I always in pain? And he would tell me like little exercises I could do, whatever. And then, one day, he saw me working on my couch with my computer. He’s literally like Is that how you sit all the time when you’re working? Are you always hunched over like that, looking at your computer? And then you’re going to ask me why your neck hurts.
Like we are adapting to this physical posture of looking down at screens all the time because the world is increasingly operating off of screens. So the solution to physical pain is to stretch those muscles regularly and correct my posture to ensure the computer screen is at a safe distance from my eyes, to make sure I’m not just scrolling blue light from inches away. If we do those things, we will start to have a physically healthier relationship with technology. But I think there is a symbolic application of that as well that has spiritual implications, which is we need to correct our posture toward technology and make sure that the thing that is determining our eyesight and the thing that lens through which we see everything else is the victory of God on the throne that we hear about in Colossians 2. So that is a big part of where this idea came from in my life, just realizing that every day is so myopic. If you wake up, look at a phone screen, and then let whatever controversy of the day determine how you show up, you must start somewhere bigger. We have to start somewhere more substantial.
Rachael Adams (11:08.322)
Yeah, it’s such a struggle. Mean, everything that all of us are doing with phone calls, and I mean, even my husband, like he’ll be watching TV, and then I’ll be on my computer, and my kids will be on their, you know, on their phones. And, like, we’re all just on some kind of screen the majority of every single day. Plus, when you’re working, answering emails, and some people have to be, there’s not much choice for them. But I think, too, like my alarm is on my phone. And so the first thing I do is turn off my alarm, and then you’re so tempted to go to, you know, your email or scroll an app. And so it is like, how do you start to set boundaries for yourself and say, no, I’m going to, I’m just going to turn it off or set limits on your social media apps, or many of the apps to set limits on them. I think that it just is going to take some intentionality. So, your subtitle for Set Your Eyes Higher is a 40-day reset to slow your anxiety and fix your focus on God. And so, why do you think that fear is so prevalent today? Do you think it is a result of technology, or do you think there are other factors?
Whitney Lowe (12:21.045)
Well, I’m certainly not a professional, so it’s hard to speak aside from anecdote, but working with young people, particularly in ministry for a long time, I’m hard-pressed to believe that that’s not a major factor. Some academics like Jonathan Haidt are putting out incredible works that add flesh to that hypothesis. And it seems to be very much the case that living our lives on screens is hurting us. So, it’s hard to believe that a change like that in how we relate to others and how we honestly relate to ourselves and God would not be monumentally impacted. So yes, I think a big part of it is learning how to see the world for the physical, in real life, personal thing that God designed it to be instead of letting our phones make us feel like we are detached from other people. And we are powerless over circumstances a lot of the time. Yeah, I want to be embodied people when the world shifts towards screens because I think that’s part of it, too. You know, you’re being told many things about what it means to identify yourself even as an example, right? And all of that’s happening in the context of a phone, and very little of that is happening in the context of your lived experience as a human being out in the world. And that’s so confusing when you’re young to try to figure out what embodiment means when you’re not doing much that is embodied. So I think that’s just one example that we could look at. But yeah. I think we’re anxious because phones make us feel like we’re responsible for everything. And yet we have no real power because it’s all in the context of, can post something, but past that, do you feel like God has empowered you to do good things in the world? And I think there’s a limit to what screens can accomplish as someone who does a lot on social media, you know?
Rachael Adams (14:26.538)
Yeah, I mean, was going to say, I mean, both of us, you know, that’s part of our ministry. That’s how we can get, you know, the word out about podcasts, books, and devotions. And I think there is a lot that is good online. You can connect with people that you usually wouldn’t. I mean, we’re connecting today because of technology. And so I’m thankful for the good ways. Still, I do think that we have to set boundaries for ourselves and know, know the limits, and kind of just be, be, aware of the impact that it’s having on you because what’s what maybe hurts me personally doesn’t hurt you personally. Still, I think it’s so tempting to look at other people and compare their lives to yours like that’s a whole different issue. I believe that with technology, you’re comparing yourself to people all around the world as opposed to just like your neighbor next door, and that’s hard. That’s a hard thing to battle.
Whitney Lowe (15:13.04)
Right. Absolutely. And I think you were saying earlier, too, that it’s so tempting always to have that phone present. And I’ve been noticing more and more, know, you were out in the world or were, you know, again, out in like physical places, and you kind of, you know, you know, to have a little bit of a guard up, you know, you’re alert, you’re paying attention. And then, if you were in a dangerous space in your neighborhood, you would know to have your guard up to be alert. But so many of us come home and curl up on the couch, our comfy clothes and our comfort where we take our guard down is when we are scrolling through social media, which arguably is a much more potentially destructive arena and not somewhere where we should be taking our guard down. So I think that’s been striking to me, too, is how many people like comfort. And that should be a place that we maintain that vigilance. And I think if we are setting our eyes on the things of God. And if we are aware of all of the principles in scripture, and we’re keeping that front of mind, you see all these different places where, you know, maybe a healthy view of the world is being undermined according to God. And I think it’s essential to keep our heads in that space.
Rachael Adams (16:28.686)
I’m just thinking this is not, I’m thinking about my children who are 15 and 13. This is an issue for them. It’s an issue for me in my 40s. It’s an issue for, know, like no matter what age that we are, men or women, this is something that we’re all really battling. And I think we need to be mindful of what we consume. Whether it’s social media, music, movies we’re watching, who we’re surrounding ourselves with, or what we’re reading, It does: whatever is coming into our eyes and our ears and hearts is what will come out. This means you can’t help but start to. If you’ve been listening to some music, you begin to catch yourself singing it. Those are the words that go on in your head. And so I think it’s just about consumption and looking at what you are filling your heart with. And then that’s the fruit that’s going to come out. What are you all talking about, even just the people we surround ourselves with? What’s the conversation centered around? Where are you going? I think it’s just holding ourselves accountable.
Absolutely. Yeah. And recognizing that there’s, you know, I think a lot of the book, too, is kind of about how these extremes exist, right? Where it’s like, either are you going to get rid of social media and call it all wrong? You could, and it might even be a little bit safer to do that. Or are you going to immerse yourself in it regularly uncritically? And I don’t think that’s the correct answer either, but I do believe in the middle, there is a calm, necessary, measured response that says, this is not going to be the boss of me. This will not determine everything about how I show up in the world. I’m not let it be God, but I will also try to use this to the Lord’s glory, whatever that might look like. And that does, to your point, require more accountability than most Christians are comfortable with. It’s not a shut your brain off, straightforward type of thing. It’s that you need accountability in your life around social media. It would help if you had something to keep yourself accountable. yeah, it’s administering more than it’s a comfort, a place to go for, you know, mindless comfort and scrolling and all those things that go with that.
Rachael Adams (18:43.842)
Yeah. So your book is divided into four sections: identity, insecurity, wisdom, wisdom and humility, capacity and burnout, and scarcity and abundance. I read that kind of awkwardly, but there are four in there. I guess it’s like both hands of those things. So why do you think these are the four main areas where people struggle to have a biblical perspective?
Whitney Lowe (19:04.607)
Well, so I think it’s just looking at sort of my own life and where all these different categories of, you know, extra pressure, extra anxiety, extra burden have manifested. And the first one, identity, and insecurity, that section focuses on setting our eyes on God as the determinant for everything else when it comes to who we are. Because I think again, just letting the world around you tell you who you are, letting yourself even tell you who you are, is ultimately not the most biblical approach to understanding ourselves. And all of us, I think, need to be aware that if God is not the number one most important thing about you, then something is off, and other things, as a result, will also be off. So, we want to spend some real intentional time on that, but the goal would be to free us from the insecurity that keeps us from being effective in the world. The second section is on wisdom and humility. That one was so interesting to me because I think that I have struggled with knowing the limits of what I can fully and fully understand in the past few years. And I think, especially in this internet age, our conversations are increasingly characterized by arrogance, anger, clapbacks, and these black-and-white monolithic categories that don’t allow us to listen to each other. And because that was making me feel like I had to have an airtight case for every single thought that I thought, I think it’s so important for us to retrain our eyes on the fact that God is the only one with perfect wisdom so we can release the burden of knowing everything. We can walk through our life and our relationships with humility, which, again, submits to God’s authority every single time but also makes it so much easier to say, I don’t know sometimes, or say, I still love you. And we can keep talking about whatever this is. And with that, the third section is on capacity and burnout because I think in a similar way that we feel this pressure to know everything, we also are told that we need to be everything and do everything and that effectiveness and, know, being a positive influence in the world looks a particular way. Still, it’s transformed into this laundry list of things we must do to be worthy and valuable to the world. And that is a heavier burden than God ever designed for us. And so we’re ending up burnt out. That chapter or that section focuses on receiving God’s calling for you by simplifying your focus on who the people God has put in front of you are.
What are the gifts that God gave you? What are the things you can release about your day-to-day burden? The fourth section, which I think ties them all together, is scarcity versus abundance. And if our eyes are constantly set on this message that there is not enough, there’s not enough money; there aren’t enough friends in your life or people that can be your friends or dating prospects, like everything in our world kind of hinges on this idea that you don’t have what you need, so buy it here. And that has seeped into everything else about how we see the world. But if our eyes are set on God’s abundance, we can rest knowing God has provided what we need. God has made you the way He designed you to be effective and tie back to that conversation about identity. And you can take a deep breath and know that God’s kingdom is abundant for you. And as long as you live in it, you have nothing to worry about. So, I think all those categories in my life have been pervasive and difficult to wrestle with. The theme throughout all of them has just been that God is on the throne so that I can take a deep breath today, and tomorrow will be just fine if the posture of my heart is surrendered to him.
Rachael Adams (23:04.28)
Yeah, just thinking about him, who he is, and what his identity is. I think, you know, when we focus on him, it does release so much pressure, and it gives so much freedom, and it relieves a lot of the anxiety that we may be feeling when we aren’t looking at ourselves, and we aren’t looking at other people. But we’re focused on him and his promises and his word, and you know, being in a constant state of prayer and then worship. As you mentioned, we need to set our eyes on him, but it just encourages my heart to know that his eyes are also on us. And he adores us, and he sings over us. And I think that does something to my heart knowing it’s not just me, like look at me or I’m looking towards you, but knowing he’s looking towards us too. Does that evoke any thought in you?
Whitney Lowe (23:55.779)
yeah, I mean. Throughout a lot of writing, I think this picture in my mind has been this image of Jesus trying to lift our chins up to Himself. So, knowing that He cares enough to do that and reorienting our perspective around Him so we can live lives of peace and abundance has been a lovely picture to have in mind. And to know that, you know, often I think some of these entries, some of these chapters will be a little bit challenging, a little bit uncomfortable for some of us to think about, but a lot of them too are just, look at how much the Lord loves you, that He would make it so that you don’t have to carry all these burdens so that you could wake up every day and say yes to the people in need who are immediately around you, that He would free you from having to know everything, and that He is just trying to get you to stop looking at all of these things that are hurting you and to get your eyes back on Him, I think is a lovely and loving image. I wish that it was easier to go through every day, really with that in the front of mind.
Rachael Adams (25:01.122)
Yeah, absolutely. I love that you focused on the book of Colossians in this book. I’d love for you to talk to us about what we can learn from the Colossian Church and Paul’s letter to them that applies to us.
Whitney Lowe (25:13.439)
Yeah, no. I studied abroad in Turkey and I got to do this really cool trip through a lot of the churches that John writes to in Revelation and a lot of the different places that Paul would have traveled. As an ancient city, Colossae was on a major trade route, so it was frequently inundated with outside influence. So it definitely was not off in its little pocket able to grow the church. There were so many different cultural influences that would have impacted it. And I think that is super relatable for our culture right now, just as I believe we must discern complex influences within the church that are not necessarily inherent to the gospel itself. And there are a lot of things that feel like they might be. From a cultural standpoint, there are many things that feel like they must be that that aren’t. And so, to sort of disentangle what is true about Jesus and ultimately what he wants us to do in the world, I think it’s essential that, again, we take our eyes off of everything going through the lens of cultural conversations and cultural controversies and letting it be about Jesus on the throne first and foremost, training our hearts to be in love with Jesus and being in love with his vision for humanity. Then, we go back to the cultural influences, trying to make sense of everything and love people in those places. That’s exactly what you see Paul doing for the Colossian church. There are a lot of these crazy ideas that have permeated this community that are causing you to fight with one another, that are causing you to lose sight of Jesus, of God in the flesh who came to you. And he says, no, set your minds on things above, not earthly things. That is not going to bring you peace and life. So, I think I just really resonated with that. And I think our culture is so parallel to that, that that I think is sort of where, again, this verse, set your minds on things above, which would ultimately become kind of the tagline idea for my Instagram page when I started it, hence the connection, but set your eyes higher. Like, stop looking around you and expecting to find joy there. Look up at Jesus and everything else. Maybe not everything, I think lots of things are complicated and we still have to wrestle. But so much falls into place and allows you to focus on the truly hard things.
Rachael Adams (27:44.598)
I’m just thinking about the enemy wants to distract us. Mean, that’s what he’s from the very beginning. That’s what he did to eat. Take your eyes off of what God has said and look over here at this tempting thing, whatever it may be, something better, something different than what the Lord has for you. And I think that he deals with us the same way today. I will distract you from your purpose and keep your eyes in mind and body moving and doing things that don’t have eternal value. And so we are. We’re so caught up in doing all these earthly things that don’t matter at all. And so I think this is such a meaningful conversation; we are in a battle, but we know that Jesus has won, so we have to do our part. And I think it is essential for us to see that we can renew our minds. It’s like we are not fighting a losing battle at all. So, do you have any tips on maybe practically, aside from, you know, setting down your phones? What is something we can do today to help us in this battle and gain some victory in this area?
Whitney Lowe (28:48.629)
You know, I think, and maybe it’s just more for me and people who are wired like me, but it’s a real struggle not to feel like your enemy is the, you know, are the people around you to remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood. And I think that’s become a bit of a mantra in the last few years is anytime I feel activated in anger toward another person, particularly a member of the church. Still, I think, kind of just any person, period. That is a good heart check of am I aligning myself with Christ in fighting the battles against the spiritual forces in the heavenly realm that that we’re told about in Ephesians six, or am I getting caught up in something lesser that often is rooted in pride? That’s just a conflict with another person I want to be right over or want to assert some authority against, and that’s been a perfect heart check. Again, I think it has released me into a different kind of effectiveness because I’m no longer so frustrated by people disagreeing or people who are doing the wrong thing because the goal is, okay, then we need to preach the gospel in such a way that whatever spiritual force has, you know, maybe deceived them or maybe distracted them is taken out, you know, not to get too hyper-spiritual, but more and more, think even just in this process of launching the book, I’ve been like, whoa, spiritual workers feeling super real these days in a new way. But what that means again is that we should focus on the victory of God and how he equips us to fight that battle, and it’s not against other people. So that’s one, I think, thing we can be consciously repeating when we are tempted into anxiety, particularly for, you know, the people pleasers and, you know, maybe the more argumentative types, because I think that can be real distraction. I think for the rest of us, it’s just having healthy boundaries around technology. And again, retraining our minds to not think of that as a safe space, to not think of that as a comfort measure, to think of that as, this is something I can consume, maybe like TV or secular music that needs to have apparent boundaries in my mind of where this departs from what I believe to be true about the world. When we feel that it is starting to impact our souls, take a step back, have accountability, and maybe make some hard and countercultural choices about technology’s role in our lives. And we’d make some pretty significant strides if we could do that.
Rachael Adams (31:30.19)
Yeah, it’s interesting now that we’re having this conversation. How many biblical mentions of just your eyes? I’m thinking about Hagar and saying, know You’re the God who sees. Then we’re talking about like keeping your eyes on Jesus, and as Peter’s walking on water and when he takes his eyes off of Jesus, then he starts to think, you know, in fear, and it just really is beautiful to think about all the ways that the Lord looks at us. We can look at him, and I was even thinking about Elijah, where he says, Lord, open their eyes so they can see what’s happening around them. So I would encourage everybody to open up their Bible and start to, you know, just to look at all the ways that God sees you and all those stories. It’s really encouraging and I think it will help us all really as we’re on this journey to kind of keep our focus on Him.
Whitney Lowe (32:21.163)
Yeah. Well, it’s not so confirmed. Think that, I mean, I should have said that maybe more clearly, but that’s sort of the idea of these 40 days of starting your day, hopefully, or incorporating in your daytime in scripture. I found that for me, that habit of meeting the Lord daily, which, again, is weird and wonky right now with my life the way that it is, but it doesn’t mean it should be. But anyway, that habit of even just five minutes that are surrendered to God by saying, I am not sure I’m convinced that you can transform my heart with five minutes of reading the Bible. But with that posture again of surrender, with that posture of you are on the throne, you are God and I’m not, I think you can do a lot when we make that tiny effort to correct. Forty days is not only a very significant biblical number, but it also seems God does a lot of good work for whatever reason. It’s also, I think, even more than it requires to build a habit in our life. And in each entry, in addition to hopefully the kind of thing you can pick up first thing in the morning and not feel like you’re really out of your depth. I think that’s hard for me, too; when it’s inductive Bible study at 6:30 in the morning, it is pretty hard to get your head in that space. But a little devotional or something softer or even poetic, more accessible to get your head around, can be an excellent habit to stack on top of consuming scripture as an entry point. And with each entry, there’s also a handful of suggested scriptures that I’m hoping as people get into this process, they’re more and more inclined to dig into in ways that will continue to bear fruit. Yeah, I think seeking God in that way every single day is so essential to starting to quell some of that anxiety that I think a lot of us are facing internally.
Rachael Adams (34:13.409)
I think, you know, circling back to how we started today’s conversation, just giving him your little, and he will multiply it. We may think it’s just five minutes, but I believe that he will do more in that five minutes than you, Vinra. It can change your whole day. And I think that that then it starts your day in that way. It then carries throughout, and those five minutes become much more as your day continues. So this has been such an encouraging conversation and I’ve loved getting to know you better and to hear your heart. And so, as we start to wrap up, one of the questions I’ve been asking all of my guests is, is there a biblical concept of love that you think applies to this topic today?
Whitney Lowe (35:20.167)
Yes, so I feel like as much as we’ve talked about the fact that Christ is King, Christ is on the throne, Christ has won the victory, you know, using this regal language, using this even military language, I think it’s important to remember that King is also a good father that loves you, that wants you to thrive, that wants you to have an abundant life. And that’s not everything is about, everything is about His glory, but He is kind enough to have built in our flourishing to His glory. And I think when you think about setting your eyes on God, sometimes that can feel like another burden or something you’re not doing well. But I think when you start to shift your mind toward the fact that this is a Father who is so caught up in wanting you to live the life of fullness that He laid out for you, you start to see that this is such a worthwhile and such a beneficial endeavor to yourself. And then you begin to see that spill out into the world. So it all comes down to the love of a father who is also the king and fusing those two ideas in our minds so that we can trust him with our flourishing. And it’s been really beautiful to see him do that in my life. And I know he will do that for those who bring that little to him.
Rachael Adams (36:40.204)
I was thinking, you know, that Revelation talks about how we’ve forgotten our first love. And I think that’s set for so many of us, you know, when we have our salvation moment, and you feel the first fire of believing in him. But then, as you were saying, like life happens, there’s this sanctification process, and we can start to idolize other things or lose our zeal for him. And so that would be the warning for my own heart and for really all of us listening like we don’t want to lose our first love. We want him always to be our first love and for him to be our number one focus, and then everything else falls into place. And so okay, maybe a less spiritual question unless there is a spiritual answer, there’s no role for us. What is something you are loving right now?
Whitney Lowe (37:44.395)
Okay, I’ll give you both. I’ll give you a spiritual answer and a non-spiritual answer because I was just talking about it with someone else. But it also pertains to our conversation around meeting the Lord. There’s this book called Domestic Monastery by Ronald Rolheiser. A pastor gave it to me when I was really early in motherhood with my first, and I didn’t really fully read it until more recently. But the ideas in this book are really short.
I think this applies to many life experiences, just being a mother. Still, especially for his moms who feel so incapable of maybe meeting the Lord the way that we’re used to before having kids, it’s just kind of about how much sanctifying work God does just in the fact that he made you a mother and how he will meet you in so much of that and grow so much in you that honestly might not have been done had you limited your time experiencing God and sanctification too the Bible reading and journaling. So it’s been kind of freeing and beautiful to feel like this act of motherhood is almost more of a level up instead of, we’re stagnating. Like that has lit a fire in me to lean in, let myself be poured out, and let God do his work through it. My unspiritual answer in a world of Stanleys is this cup from my roommate because it has a bit of rubber bottom, so it doesn’t make a loud clanging sound, and it locks. That has been really special for me, so I like to sing its praises to everybody, along with the spiritual book about mothering. But yeah, those are my two favorite things.
Rachael Adams (39:18.744)
Those are some excellent recommendations, and I have said before that I feel like marriage and motherhood are where God has done his most refining work in me. I’m growing, it’s like your unconditional love, forgiveness, grace, mercy, like sacrifice and selflessness. He is doing work in me, so I would a hundred percent recommend that I agree with what you’re saying there, and I’ll have to the link to that book and the cup and your book in the show notes. Everybody will want to get a copy of that and follow you, so tell us how we can best do that.
Whitney Lowe (39:57.973)
Yeah, so, like I said, I just changed my Instagram name. It’s very scary, but it’s at Whitney Pearson Lowe, and it’s been really sweet to see a community develop over there. Yeah, Instagram is kind of the best. And then, aside from that, yeah, it would just be really fun to hear what people have to say about the devotional when they get their hands on it. So, I will just be anxiously awaiting those comments.
Rachael Adams (40:23.523)
Well, would you pray for us as we close today? We want to keep our eyes set on things above.
Whitney Lowe (40:30.569)
Absolutely. Dear Holy Father on the throne, looking down at us with love in your eyes and a genuine desire to see us flourish and grow as your children. I just pray that anyone listening to this today would find themselves released into peace, released from the burden of trying to be enough or do enough or say the right thing or provide for themselves. God, I pray that you would show yourself so faithful to make up all of the gaps that we feel in us, that we see in the world around us, and that in continuing to look to you, we would notice all how you’re doing that. God, I pray that we would set our minds on things above and our eyes higher so that we can be effective in a world that desperately needs agents of gospel change. And I pray that we will continually be leaning on you for every bit of power, motivation, and energy and that you will again show yourself so faithfully to give that to us. And we thank you for making a way for us in this world. And I thank you that we don’t have to be victims of the current climate. And Lord, I thank you for the peace that comes from that. In your name, we pray, amen.
Rachael Adams (41:45.214)
Amen. Well, Whitney, thank you. I’ve enjoyed our time together and look forward to staying in contact with you. I appreciate your encouragement to set our eyes higher. Thank you so much.
Whitney Lowe (41:56.981)
Thank you. It’s been wonderful.
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