Courage For Today

mountain

When Small Pebbles Become Mountains

Strength

I don’t know about you but, for me, whenever I go for long walks or hiking (which isn’t very often), I sometimes become overwhelmed by the length of the journey. Usually, what goes through my mind is, “how much longer?”  I tend to look at the finish line first or the mountain I need to climb and, quite honestly, it can become too much sometimes. I suspect that each of us feels that way at one time or another in our lives.

I remember there was one hike I went on years ago with a youth group.  It wasn’t an extremely long hike, maybe a couple of miles or so.  It just seemed longer because of the large group we were trying to keep on the same path along our journey.  About halfway through our trek I noticed the heel of my foot began hurting and was getting progressively worse.  I stopped for a moment and checked out my shoe, but couldn’t find anything that would be causing the pain.  So, I continued on with the group until we finished.  By the time we reached our destination, the heel of my foot was bright red and tremendously sore.  After taking a water break and resting some, I looked at my shoe once more and found a tiny pebble wedged in between the insole and the shoe itself.  It was so small; I had not seen it before.

As Christians, I would encourage you to spend the week examining the small pebbles in your own life.  It is the small things in your life or testimony that make a huge difference in your Christian walk.  No one ever tripped over the mountain itself; it is the small pebbles that cause the pain.

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Importance of Staying Focused on God

Strength

I was recently fortunate enough to be able to take a short vacation to the Smoky Mountains.  I had not been in this area for over 20 years, but during my visit I suddenly realized how much I had missed it.  The beauty and the scenery and the activities are second to none.

As we began our journey on this particular vacation, we traveled through small towns and seldom used highways; not at all what I am used to with the crowds and traffic of Atlanta.   Once you’re out of the big city limits, it’s almost as if you’re in a different world altogether.  After a few hours driving, we finally arrived at the entrance to the Smoky Mountain Parkway.  Our goal was to drive across the parkway and arrive on the other side of the mountains in the towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.  Our family was looking forward to the many restaurants and things to do that awaited us on the other side.  Unfortunately, the roads over the parkway were unlike any that I was used to.  I had not driven these roads for many years and had forgotten how challenging they were.  The roads were curvy and hilly and treacherous.  In some places, the road was a complete horseshoe turn coming back in the opposite direction I just came.  There were blind curves and tunnels.  Many times, I was forced to dodge tree limbs and branches that had fallen on the road and I had to occasionally swerve to miss rocks that hold rolled from the mountainside.  In fact, I was so focused on the obstacles in my path that I couldn’t focus on the majesty of the surroundings.  God’s handy work was all around me, but I only focused on what was directly in my path.

As I drove higher and higher across the mountains, I began to notice changes in the surroundings.  I would pass lookout points where I could see far away mountain ridges, over the treetops, for miles and miles.  I could see rolling hills with beautiful mountainside homes.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  There were water falls streaming down the mountainside, partially frozen along the way.  Occasionally, we encountered signs warning us of wildlife that we may encounter, although we never saw any bears or deer.  Unlike earlier when I focused on the obstacles on the road, I was now becoming captivated by the scenery and the beauty of God’s handy-work.  In fact, there were a couple of occasions when I was so in awe of the beautiful scenery and majesty of what I saw, I swerved slightly out of my driving lane and had to quickly get back on track.  By this point I was so focused on the beauty of what surrounded me that I couldn’t focus on the journey at hand.

As my driving continued, I began to witness a light mist blanket the mountaintops throughout the region, slowly thickening into a smothering fog. There are not many things scarier to me that trying to drive across a mountain covered in fog.  As I struggled along, it suddenly occurred to me that my trek across the mountain had taken me on a personal journey ranging from dodging tree limbs and boulders, to enjoying beautiful mountaintop views, to trying to navigate through thick fog without running off the mountain road.  My slow journey through the fog had now become dangerous.  The only thing I could do was totally concentrate on the white line on the right side of the road that indicated the border of the road.  I couldn’t see in front of me; I couldn’t see to the left of me.  I could barely read the yellow road signs indicating the curves of the road ahead.  I could only keep my focus on the white line on the side of the road and drive as slowly and carefully as possible.  As long as I stayed within this boundary, I knew that I would be safe. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally drove below the fog line and arrived at our destination in Pigeon Forge.

As Christians, our perspective in life can change dramatically and quickly, depending on many circumstances.  Throughout all we do, God wants us to be totally focused on him.  HE wants us to look to Him for each step along our journey, whatever that might be.  Sometimes, we struggle so much in life, it seems like all we do is dodge “tree limbs” and “boulders” in our paths.  It seems sometimes that life just throws obstacle after obstacle in our way.  When we stay focused on the obstacles, the obstacles consume us to the point that we fail to see the beauty around us. Sadly, I can’t say that I honestly remember anything about the early part of my travels along the parkway except the fact that I was dodging obstacles along the way.  Staying focused on your goal and your journey will allow God to give you the wisdom, strength, and abilities necessary to overcome whatever life throws your way.

Equally as dangerous in our Christian life, is focusing too much on any success we may achieve.  Perhaps you’re beyond dodging the “boulders” and “tree limbs” in your life and you’ve reached a mild degree of success. Success can sometimes be a detriment in our lives because our tendency is to take our eyes off God when we believe we’re doing pretty well on our own.  When we do so well in life, our human nature tells us (falsely) that there is not as great a need to rely on God.  If you’re at this stage in life, it’s so critical that you don’t lose focus of what brought you to that point.  Don’t focus so much on success or the success of others that you “swerve” off your successful path and lose sight of what is really important in life.  On that foggy day on the mountaintops, there was a good reason that I wasn’t able to glance too far down the parkway road.  Doing so would have changed my focus and bearings and lead me to disaster.  By placing my entire focus on the very next few feet in my journey, I was able to arrive successfully at my destination.

The successful path, although not necessarily the easiest path, is to stay focused on God’s next steps for your life, whatever those might be.  During my life, I’ve spent many days dwelling on obstacles that were standing in my way, instead of God’s answers.  I’ve also dwelt too much on success instead of remembering what’s truly important.   Staying focused on God always helps you maintain the correct balance.

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The Peace in Learning to Enjoy the Journey

Encouragement

My wife and I had a great time this past summer visiting Stone Mountain Park, here in the Atlanta area, with our grandsons.  We had the opportunity to spend the day with them seeing the various sights and attractions and just had a wonderful time.  One thing that my grandsons had really wanted to do that particular day was climb to the top of the mountain.  Stone Mountain isn’t a particularly tall mountain and fortunately has walking trails to the top, but for a 5 and 6 year old, along with grandpa and grandma, it is a formidable task.

Even though our grandsons’ enthusiasm was much greater than mine and my wife’s, we relented and decided to start the slow trek up the mountain.   The beginning part of the trail was slow and gradual.  It seemed like we were taking forever to climb just a short distance, but I had to remind myself that it took 3 of their strides to equal 1 of ours, so I found myself walking ahead of them, then having to stop and let them catch-up, over and over again.

I was tired and sweaty, just wanting to get to the top of the mountain so I could rest and then start my way back.  I learned early on during our hike that this wasn’t going to be the case.  We had to stop and look at every large rock with someone’s name carved in it.  We looked at unusual plant formations.  We examined large trees that were growing crooked and we explored small rock overhangs that reminded the kids of caves. My grandsons viewed the hike as an exciting adventure.  Climbing the mountain was a trial to me and I was simply looking for the hike to be over with quickly before I succumbed to dehydration and heat stroke.  My grandsons were not focused at all on the trial of climbing the mountain; they were simply enjoying the journey of the hike.

I know when I face a trial in life, no matter what it is, I tend to dwell on the problem.  I want the trial to be over with quickly and let life get back to normal.  While I never enjoy being in the midst of a trial, I was reminded by my grandsons that I should always learn to enjoy the journey.  What can I learn during the course of the trial?  How can I grow?  What is God trying to teach me?

At some point, the trial will be over and we’ll be joyous for sure.  But, the real joy should not be that the trial’s over, but in celebrating what I learned during the journey.

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He Can Guide Us Over The Mountains

Faith

I have to admit that I’m not much of an adventurer or outdoorsman ,although I do like to enjoy outdoor activities.  I like to camp and fish occasionally, especially when I was younger.  Now, it seems that I just don’t have the time or make the time to relax as much as I should.  I suppose we’re all caught up in our daily lives and the ongoing hustle and bustle.  It’s no wonder that most of us are too stressed out for our own good.

I remember many, many years ago I had the opportunity as a teenager to go with some friends of mine on a mountain climbing adventure.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking Mt. Everest here.  Just some small, North Georgia Mountains that would be plenty challenging enough for me and my friends.  We were excited because it wasn’t something we normally did a lot of—mountain climbing that is.  But, we were also nervous because we didn’t know anything about it.  My imagination went wild.  What if our ropes broke?  What if we fell off the edge of the mountain?  What if we ran into bears?  What if we got snake-bit?  What if there was an avalanche of rocks that hurt us?   What if we got separated and some of us got lost in the wilderness?  On and on and on, my thoughts ran wild to the point that I was ready to go home before we started.

Despite all the anxiety, we arrived at our location to begin our great excursion.  The good news was that we were going to have a local climber go with us; someone who knew the terrain and knew where to go and what to look out for.  Before we started the hike and climb, our guide explained how he grew up in the area and hiked the trails and mountains as a child.  He comforted us by explaining how he knew every inch of the terrain and even knew when there were changes to the landscape such as a new fallen tree, or a dammed-up stream.  By the time he was through talking, I was feeling much better.  I knew that I had nothing to fear.  There was no where we would go; no mountain that we were going to climb; and no path we were going to take in which our guide was not intimately familiar.  Even though we didn’t even know what County we were in, he knew every new path that was created.

Sure enough, we encountered a situation in which our guides expertise was a life-saving experience.  As we began climbing one small mountain after another, we encountered one mountain with a small trail that circled around the hill and slowly snaked it’s way to the top of the mountain.  What we didn’t know at the time was that at one point on the mountain, there was a 20 foot stretch of the trail in which the trail narrowed to about one foot in width. You fall off the trail and you tumble down the mountain.  Our guide was ahead of us and already had navigated this treacherous stretch.  He knew it was coming and had crossed the path many times before. He knew what to expect .  He crossed the  narrow path with ease and waited for us on the other side, ready to coach us and lead us across danger to safety.  Basically, we had to turn our backs to the mountain side and look forward, out over the long fall below, and slowly slide our way around the mountain until the path widened. Our guide would tell us where to place our feet and how not to look down, leading us every step of the way until we were all safe.  Needless to say, our guide was our best friend at that moment.

We often go through life looking at the mountains and the dangers and worrying too much about what may happen while, all the time, forgetting that our guide–Jesus–has been there before.  HE created the mountains.  Nothing catches our Lord by surprise.  HE is there to guide you and direct you every step of the way, if only you’ll focus on HIM and not the fall below.

Are you facing a huge trial or decision in your life right now?  Are you seeing only the mountains?  If so, take your focus off the mountain and place your focus in your guide.  It’s amazing how much more beautiful the scenery is when you do that.

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Praying on the Mountaintops

Encouragement

I’m talking a literal mountaintop here.  Our family decided to visit beautiful Gatlinburg, Tennessee one fall weekend.  We liked to go there occasionally for the shopping and food and, of course, the beautiful mountain scenery.  It was always relaxing to get away from the hustle and bustle of Atlanta and enjoy everything that Gatlinburg and, its sister city, Pigeon Forge had to offer.

One of the popular attractions in Gatlinburg is what is called Ober Gatlinburg.  Basically, it is an amusement area at the top of a particular mountain which offers snow skiing; ice skating; etc.  It sounded like a fun place to visit especially for our children who were not nearly as excited at looking at mountains and the changing leaf colors as my wife and I were.

There were two ways to reach the top of the mountain.  You could drive your car to the top, or you could ride a cable car from the City of Gatlinburg at the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain.  Riding Cable Cars is not something that is on my “to-do” list so I voted for the first option.  We climbed into the family car and drove the winding mountain roads to the top of the mountain. It seemed like forever, but in reality it wasn’t really that far.  By then, the kids were excited and wanting to climb out the car windows.  They couldn’t wait to lace on a pair of skates or skis.  Unfortunately, when we arrived to the top of the mountain, there was no place to park our car.  The lots were full.  So, I had a brilliant idea.  I asked my wife to drop me and the kids off at the entrance to Ober Gatlinburg.  I would go ahead and be paying for what we were going to do, get the kids all ready, and in the meantime she could drive back down the mountain; park in town; and catch the cable car back to the top of the mountain.  She wasn’t scared of heights so I knew that wasn’t an issue with her.  Everyone agreed, so off I went with the kids and off my wife went down the mountain.  After 30 minutes or so, she arrived back to the top of the mountain and found us at the ice skating rink and all was good.

Then it hit me.

How was I going to get back down the mountain without riding the cable car?  All of a sudden, ice skating didn’t seem fun anymore.

We did have a good time at the top of the mountain and I was sad to see the time end.  Not because I was having that much fun, but because I knew I had to ride the cable car down the mountain.  Finally, the moment of truth came and it was time to leave.  We bought our cable car tickets and climbed on board.  I immediately went to the center of the cable car and held on to the large pole in the center of the car as if that was going to make me feel safer.  The ride to the bottom seemed like an eternity.  I think I aged 10 years on that ride, but we finally made it and it couldn’t have been quick enough.

I can remember literally praying all the way down the mountain.  Praying to the Lord that the cable wouldn’t snap and that we wouldn’t fall.  Trying to convince God that I was too young to die and I had a wife and two young children and that it wouldn’t be fair for me to have it all end this way, by crashing into a mountainside.  Don’t laugh, you’ve been there too.

As I think back on that incident, I realized a simple lesson that I still struggle with today.  I realized that I don’t usually have an issue praying to God during an emergency or crisis.  I think most of us are probably like that.  We like to think we’re in control of everything in our lives and only when we can’t fix things any better do we turn to God.  I am constantly reminding myself to do as the Bible says and pray without ceasing, not just in the bad times, but in the good times as well.

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