Tuesday, December 17th, 2024
What does it feel like when we are close to victory? Does it get easier the closer we get, or does it get more challenging? I think most of us would like to think that as we get closer to a spiritual victory things will start to get easier. We get the sense that we are so close that we can start to ease up a bit and just coast right in for the win. In my experience, exactly the opposite is true.
Here is a quick natural experience to help us understand the spiritual. I have climbed Mount Washington in New Hampshire three times in my life. When you start out climbing any mountain, the trail is very broad with little elevation. As you progress there comes a point when you can feel the slope start to increase. Your breathing increases and you start to feel yourself leaning forward more to counter the slope of the trail. With Mount Washington specifically, the last hour or so is the slowest climbing on the trail. You can see the summit, but there is a wall of boulders in front of you that must be scaled in order to reach the top. This is where your lungs and your legs are pushed to their max.
These last few months in my spiritual walk have felt a lot like my journeys up Mount Washington. There is something in my spirit that says I am getting closer and closer to victory, but at the same time I find my soul and my physical body coming under more and more attack. The hopeful expectation within me can see the summit, but it’s taking more effort and dedication than ever before. When we find ourselves in these moments we have a choice to make. We can let the increased resistance take our hope and our will or we can keep our eyes focused on the summit believing that whatever is ahead is better than what’s behind. Galations 6:8-9 sums this up wonderfully:
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
The enemy is constantly trying to wear us out and bring us to the point of giving up. If he can discourage us and get us to think that God isn’t good and can’t work it all for good, then we just might give up. If he can get us to focus on our feeble minds and broken bodies, we will start to believe that God is just as broken and feeble as we are. But this is not the God we serve. His plan is for us to summit this mountain and all future mountains.
Final Thoughts…
I get the sense spiritually that many of us are in this summit slow-down. We can see our victory, but it seems like the battle is getting harder and slower. If you find yourself in this place, don’t lose heart. Seek God for all that He wants you to take in while you are in this exact place. Maybe today is a day to be still. Maybe just getting over one boulder is enough for the day. Maybe it’s a day to wait and encourage someone else to get to where you are. Maybe it’s a day to journal all that God is speaking so that someday someone else can follow in your footsteps. Whatever the day brings, don’t give up. You will summit that mountain!