Not at the top

From a distance, mountains draw attention as they add shape, texture and definition to the landscape. Close up, they're even more impressive, and daunting if a climb is being contemplated. 

Are we adequately prepared? Have we remembered to bring all the equipment necessary for the task? Questions flood in and fear can paralyse our steps.

Similarly, mountains loom large and sudden in our lives, leaving us feeling weak-kneed with indecision, crippled by anxiety and with a heart sinking in discouragement. 

How in the world do we face up to (never mind scale) this mountain of:shame, sickness, pain, grief, hardship, loss, failure or financial pressure? It all seems so insurmountable. 

And it probably is in our own strength, which is naturally limited by weariness, weakness, doubt and fear.

These mountains cast a dark shadow over our days (and often our nights too) as they appear impenetrable and immovable. At times like this it helps to check in with our mountain-moving God and get His perspective on the situation.

Is this one we circle with endurance, no matter how long it takes? Or ask Him to remove? Or scale with His assistance? The answer can vary. It may involve all three possibilities to some extent.

I've circled, trudged weary and slow for years around a mountain of sickness and pain, my shoes full of wilderness sand that I just long to shake off.

In the past I crept slower still around a mountain of deep depression, despair and discouragement, heavily laden with guilt and shame over the emotional and sexual abuse I encountered as a child.

Sometimes the mountain ground me down. Often-times, it seemed to edge away a little into the distance. But it never disappeared completely...

....I'd love you to come on over with me and read the rest here where I am excited to be guest posting for my writer friend, Chris Morris today...

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