Challenge!
We have all embarked on a challenge in our life at one time or another. It might have been the challenge of getting a college degree. Or maybe you have challenged yourself to some physical achievement. Whatever the challenge is you have to prepare for it. And when you think you are ready for the challenge some times it is more challenging than you imagined. My son did a challenge recently. It was the challenge of climbing a local mountain the equivalent high of Mt Everest from sea level to the top, which is 29,029 feet. He planned to do it straight.
Why?
Many people would wonder why in the world would he do such a thing. He had decided that he wanted to do an Everest challenge but wanted to raise money for a local institution. He had thought about raising money for a place that helps kids that suffer from learning disabilities because of his own struggles with learning. But he could not find a place that he could involve.
Then he started thinking about a friend who at the age of 22 had committed suicide. Maybe he could find a local place that helps people that deal with mental health issues and help prevent suicides. He found a local place and they were excited about the idea of being able to receive money. They do a lot of free help and they need donations to keep going. And then my brother committed suicide. At that point, he made the push forward to make this happen.
His desire was suicide awareness. Suicide is on the rise and we need to be aware. And there are places that people can reach out to and get help. A lot of times people won’t reach out to their family or friends. But there are places that they can reach out to for help. And he wanted to raise money to help this local crisis center.
Getting started
We got up before 3 a.m. the first morning. By the time we packed up and got there he was able to start hiking around 5 am. He had picked the steepest trail of the mountain because it would be fewer miles for the elevation.
We set up an aid station ready to do whatever he needed when he would arrive back after each ascent. It didn’t take long for us to discover what foods were best for him and what foods did not work well. One round he ended up sick and threw up because of what he had eaten. From that time on we kept things very simple. There were only like 3 or 4 things that he would eat. He made sure to stay hydrated and kept his electrolytes up. Another thing that he did was take a complex that helps support the joints and muscles with the discomfort and also a cream that he put on his knees and legs. He also took a natural energy and stamina complex that helped with endurance.
Enduring
Any time someone enters into a challenge I think if they really knew what was ahead they may not choose to do it. But thankfully we don’t know. The hardest part for my son was hiking in the dark. He was very fatigued and hiking alone. In those moments he had to keep his mind focused. Your thoughts can run wild and if you don’t stay focused a person could give up altogether.
When he started his journey his average for one round was about 1 hour and 15 minutes. But as time went on and he got more fatigued it took him 1 hour and 30 minutes. Before he ended it was taking him more like 1 hour and 45 minutes. In order to reach the elevation, he was aiming for he had to hike up and down 16 1/2 times.
Support
As he hiked through the night we were there for him each time he came down. But I also talked with him as he walked via the phone during those hardest times. The next morning I decided to go up the mountain on his 15th time to meet him. I met him halfway up the hill and came down with him. And then I went up for his last trip, which he only had to go half way up.
I couldn’t imagine doing this challenge myself it was so grueling. By the time he was done he had hiked for 28-1/2 hours, ascended and descended a little more than 29,029 feet, with only a 30-minute nap in over 30 hours. It was tough! What kept him going? He had to keep his eye on the goal. If he had wavered on the goal he would have failed. Yes, he was discouraged at times but he still kept going, keeping his eye on the goal.
Another kind of…
There is another kind of challenge. This challenge is achieving a higher elevation than 29,029 feet. And each one of us as Christians has chosen this challenge. Our goal is heaven. It is like climbing a mountain. There are times that it is so “steep” we don’t know if we can keep going. Then as we get through those grueling times we have a mountain top experience. And then we have a descent in our lives.
You know how it is when you go hiking. You’re climbing a path and you’re getting tired you can’t wait to start down. So you get there and what beauty there is at the top. You start your journey down and it does not take long to realize that your knees can hardly take it. Your knees become so painful.
Why?
When we become Christians we may be asked why. There may be family and friends that question why we would give up the “fun” life and become a Christian. Why would you want to go up that grueling mountain of “rules and regulations”?
The reasons are similar to the goal of an athlete/mountain climber. It is to win! It is to accomplish a goal that has been set. The difference is that the Christian wants to win the race of life so that he or she can live eternally. We don’t get a gold medal like here on earth. But to me what we do get is the best trophy ever. We get to be with Jesus who gave His very life so that we can be in a world without sin and sorrow.
Getting started
So when it comes to the goal for the Christian how do you get started? What are the steps to success? Just like my son started in the early morning for the success of his goal, started early with God is the way to start. Each day we should start our day with God, reading His Word and in prayer. We should be communing with Him throughout our day. Each evening opening our hearts to God asking Him to reveal any sins that we have committed during the day. As He reveals to us we can confess and forsake those sins. Sin is a burden that makes our journey harder.
Enduring
In order to make our goal as a Christian, we need to endure until the end. The journey can be grueling at times. When we have a mountain top experience in our Christian walk it feels great. We have struggled and as we get to the top the beauty is spectacular. But then things happen that start us on a downturn.
We may start to realize that something is not right. Our “knees”(experience) seem to be “aching” but what is the problem. The reality is that we have started down from our mountain top experience. At this point, we need to fall on our knees asking God to show us how to continuing in our journey for the goal of heaven. And He will help us. We need to keep our focus on the goal.
Support
We cannot make it in the Christian race without a support team and we have the greatest support team ever, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
It is great to have a human support team. Having a church family is great for support. But they will not always be there for us. We need to have our full trust in God. God is the greatest support. We can “call” any time and talk, during the good and bad times.
Just like my son struggled in the darkest hour of the night we as Christians sometimes struggle. In those darkest hours, God is there and all we need to do is “call” Him and He will see us through. He will feed us from His Word and give us encouraging thoughts that He brings into our minds. He encourages us to rest in Him. This journey can be very tiring if we are not resting in Him.
Dear Father,
Thank You that You are always there as a support team for anyone that will accept it. Help us in keeping our eyes focused on the goal of heaven. Keep our minds on You bringing Your Word to our minds throughout the day. Give us the strength that we need by empowering us with Your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Keep your eyes on the goal and don’t waver.
Love you all.
Do you have an experience that you have been through where you know that God was there beside you and seen you through? Please share your experience below. I would love to hear it.
Note to my readers: Due to my limited time, I will be cutting back on how many times I am writing per month. Instead of writing once a week I am going to start by doing one every other week and see how that goes. I pray you are blessed by my experiences and what God shows me through those experiences.
The next day did not look much better. When we got up it was not raining. So after having breakfast, we started thinking about how we could make this day fun despite the rain. It is amazing what you can do with what you have if you put your mind to it. We took the three two-man tents and put them together and cover the center part with my son’s tarp tent. Then we were able to open the doors to our tents and sit around visiting and playing games. It did let up a little so we could take a little hike. It was such a beautiful place with lots of little lakes, flowers, and streams.
The next day was still looking cloudy but there was some sun. So we decided to take the risk of heading out hoping it would not pour rain. Because at that point how would you get warm. It turned out to be a beautiful day. Yes, we had a sprinkle here and there but nothing drastic. We were actually thankful for the clouds. The sun came out a few times, which made it really hot but for the most part, there was a cloud cover. It was a long a grueling hike but the view was spectacular.
unimaginable. They are not full of pollution. They are crisp and clean. We filtered water out of the lake and it was so incredibly good. There are little islands and greenery all around. It is so beautiful it is hard to explain.
waterfalls. Everywhere you looked you could see a falls coming down from somewhere. Some were so far away that you could not see them well but you could hear them as they crashed over the rocks falling hundreds of feet down the mountain.