Climb

I've always thought it would be cool to climb a mountain like this. It would really be hard for me because I hate cold weather. But the though of it really entices me. A physical challenge that would take days and weeks to accomplish. It's like one of nature's greatest obstacle courses. And when you finish it, man what a feeling that must be. To reach the top and look out and see all that you have come from and endured and where you're at now. What a breathtaking view that must be. To be so high in elevation that the sky is beginning to look black even though the sun is out because you're so close to outer space. I like to think that being on the top of Mt. Everest would be the physically closest that one could ever be to God and still be alive on this earth (or at least until He comes back). I always thought that it would be a cool thing to do though.

I realized the other day, that I climb a mountain like this everyday. Or at least sometimes I feel like I do. That mountain is called "walking with Jesus in a world that likes to act like He doesn't exist."

When you're standing at the bottom of the mountain, It looks tall. I don't think you can really imagine what lies ahead of you on your journey. As you go, it gets harder, it gets steeper. With every step, the rocks beneath your feet are slippery and sharp. When you stumble and fall, you get cut on the rocks, leaving you a nasty scar to remember what happened forever. The higher you get the harder it gets. The less people there are climbing around you. Those who aren't serious about the climb get weeded out and fall away. When you're about halfway up you look back and see where you've come from and you're encouraged, but then you turn back and look up to where you have still yet to go and you get so frustrated you want to quit. Hunger, thirst, desire to be warm, the desire to have company, all of these wants eat at you constantly. They call out to you and try to distract you from the goal at hand. Sometimes you climb and climb an climb, then look and see that you've hardly moved any from where you last were. It can feel like you're going nowhere no matter how hard you try. 

That is so comparable to my life its almost laughable. Walking with Jesus in today's world is hard. There's no other way to say it right now. I feel like I'm somewhere halfway up the mountain stuck in my tent because theres a blizzard outside. When I look back and see where I've come from, I see the changes that God has made in my life, I'm encouraged. When I look up to see where I want to go, I'm so frustrated because it feels so far away. With every step I feel like the rocks beneath my feet are shifting and I'm about to fall flat on my face sometimes. The higher up the mountain, the closer with Jesus you walk, the harder it becomes, and sometimes the fewer fellow climbers you have with you. Every step you take closer to the top of the mountain of walking closer with Jesus, the devil ramps up his onslaught against you. In times of loneliness or wondering you get consumed with the wants and desires of this world that keep you from focusing on your ultimate goal. I have scars from past falls that I've had. Things that constantly remind me of the person I use to be. They haunt me sometimes. They call out to me to go back to them and do them again. When you're climbing alone and they are the only voices you hear sometimes, they can seem pretty convincing. 

What a view it must be from the top though. I'm going to make it to the top of that mountain. I don't care how many times I fall along the way. I don't care how cold it gets, or if I'm the only one left on the mountain. I've got to keep climbing. You've got to keep climbing. Take someone with you, find someone who's climbing near you and tag team it. It's going to get harder as you near the top. You're going to get cold. You're going to get frustrated. Know these things, and overcome them. After all they have already been overcome by Someone greater than you and I. 

Keep climbing...