I recently climbed Stone Mountain and there was so much
power in that experience. I got so much revelation about life, personal will,
and God’s power. After the experience, I was strengthened by hard work and perseverance,
thankful for a support system that did not let me give up, and most of all thankful to God
for answering prayer. For God has not given us a spirit of fear but power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7) a scripture that I rehearsed over and over again in my head
during the entire hike, operating in the spiritual realm to overcome the fear and minor panic attack that desired to overtake me.
Once I reached the top I felt accomplished and powerful, however I experienced a seemingly overwhelming feeling of sadness because
the journey was so hard but at the same time I was excited because I finally made it to the top. It
was a weird combination of feelings, to
say the least. The closer I got to the top the harder it got and once I made it to the top I realized the journey did not take as long as I'd thought it had. I did not want to come down, in fact I
was scared to go back down. the journey down looked much harder than the hike up. But to my surprise the
journey down was much easier, however for others that traveled up with me, going
down was far more difficult. I was reminded of the scripture that says speak to
the mountain and it will be moved out of your way Mark 11:22-25. So after the experience
was over I began to compare that physical hike up Stone Mountain to the journey
of life which is filled with many mountains that we have to overcome. I began
to wonder how that scripture Mark 11 comes into play in our personal lives. I
started to wonder why so many choose to hike up the mountain when we have the
ability to tell the mountain to move out of our way?
The ability to speak to the mountain belongs to all of us
but it requires faith and patience. We have to believe that God who created the
mountain is able to move it out of our way so that we can securely travel the
journey of life laid out before us. It also requires much patience; we have to
be willing to wait on God’s timing to move the mountain. That is when the
simple verbal assignment becomes difficult. As we stand at the bottom of the
Mountain waiting on God to move it we see so many people starting the hike,
others coming down from the hike and began to think to ourselves “if they can
do it surely I can”. So we take the steps and begin the journey. God is so
faithful that even when we choose to take the hard route he is faithful and just
to see us through. Some parts of the journey are harder than others, rocky,
confusing, slippery, and even dangerous. Then there is patches of leveling, those
places don’t last long but provide a sense of relief and empowerment for us to continue moving forward. There are even rest stops available if it gets to rough providing the option of stopping and taking a seat,
but the rest stops aren’t comfortable, I suppose for reason.
God provides us with everything we need to make it up, but our
journey could have gone differently if we had simply waited on God to move the mountain
for us. The decision to tackle the mountain on our own is ok because He provides
us with a support system who have the same goal in mind; to make it to the top.
They won’t let us give up if they are any good. However we may encounter some
that encourage us to turn around and depending on where we are in life we may continue moving forward or give in to the temptation to turn around. On this journey you encounter some people hiking up
the mountain who are relying on their own strength and personal ability to make
it up the mountain, and they indeed succeed. These people are called the self
sufficient. They brag about their ability to make it up the mountain and even
scoff at your pace, they sometimes run up the mountain with their eyes closed
and take pleasure going up and down the mountain to prove their personal ability
to make it happen.
My story is not quite the same. It is God and God alone who
helps me up and down and receives all the credit and praise for my arrival. However
I can’t help but wonder why have I yet
to be courageous enough to take my rightful stance and wait on God to move the
mountains I face. Is my motivation peer pressure, pride, curiosity, desire to
be accepted, or to impress others? I am not ignorant enough to believe that my
only way to the top is to take the hike, I know that God is able to do anything
He pleases if my trust is in Him. Why can’t I be still and know that I serve
the God of all? Why must I make the journey more difficult that it has to be?
Why do I climb the mountains I face?
**All images are from Google**
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