This is an older post, but I had to share it anyway….
Well, my plan was workout on my elliptical today, but it was so beautiful outside, I just had to go for a walk. Who’d have thought it would be so nice and beautiful in the month of January where I live that I could go outside and walk… Thank YOU MY LORD!! I have this same walk that I do… it’s hard. We live right under a buffalo jump and everywhere behind our house up near the barn is uphill. But, once you get up there, there are the gorgeous Rocky Mtns so clear and awesome! How anyone canNOT see God in them I don’t know… Going up those hills is hard. There are a few that even my boys, who are in INCREDIBLE shape, can’t walk upright to get to the top. There are 3 that I have to stop at least once on each hill just to catch my breath. I noticed today that I always turn and face downhill when I do have these short rest periods… 1. because I’m looking down at our Ranch… the house, barns, shop, basketball court… horses… all of it! BUT 2. God reminded me that when we’re facing “mountains” in our life that we must look back on those times He’s already brought us thru.
I don’t think I could catch my breath if I was standing staring at the rest of that “hill” in front of me. But turning around and looking at all the blessings my Father in Heaven has poured out on me, the struggles we’ve had that He’s carried us thru, the peace He’s brought me when I walk with Him and not get scared, tired, or too lazy, and go back. I am so in awe of Him… something as simple as a walk that I’ve done so often before, and He still shows me beautiful glimpses of His glory!
The second thing… after the first BIG hill, there’s a “fork” in the trail… they’re cow trails, nothing fancy 🙂 But I’ve always taken the higher one. Physically, I do it because I’d rather get to the top faster and get it done with… not “lollygag” (is that a real word or a Tracy word?? haha!) around going slower. But when I stepped on that higher trail today, I felt God tell me that we are always to take the higher road… in everything!!
God’s been speaking to me a lot just recently about holiness and taking the “high road” is for sure about that. You know, sometimes it’s hard… but it gets us to our destination that much faster.
Third thing: On one of the tough hills, I was bent over enough that I was tempted to reach out and grab one of the June-berry bushes or weeds and pull myself up. Of course I knew better because the hills are very rocky and the roots to those plants are very shallow; they’d never be able to support any pull without being uprooted. Also, this time of year, they are dead!! Now think about that for a minute… …. ….. …… SO often when things get tough, our first reaction is to reach out and grab whatever or whomever is nearest for help. There are so many that don’t have deep roots in God and others that are spiritually dead. When you grab on to them, more than likely, you’re both going down!!
Instead I stopped and turned around, looking at how far I had come, remembering that it wasn’t on my strength that I’ve made it this far, and it’ll be by God’s strength in me that will carry me the rest of the way!
Forth thing: Getting to the top is beautiful. You are kind of on a small plateau. The Rocky Mtns on one side of you, our ranch on the other. It’s for the most part, flat!
Whew… I made it!! But not really. You know, I could walk around and around up there and if I wasn’t paying attention, keeping myself walking hard to keep my heart rate up, I’d just end up enjoying the beauty and “lollygagging” (haha!) I’d never get anywhere or never lose one pound. So when I get to the top, I stop and look at where I am, how far I’ve come, the blessings that lie below me at the ranch, the mountains that show me how awesome and incredible my God is… and then I get my butt in gear. I have to walk harder, faster, up there to keep my heart rate up and my muscles warm. I’m not on a pleasure walk, I have a purpose.
And thus is life… We ALL have a purpose, a plan– Jer. 29:11. There are times we get to the top of a mountain in our life and it feels good… a challenge behind us… we made it!! YEAH!! But, we’ve learned along the way, we’ve grown stronger. Now it’s time to get to work and be what God created us to be! We don’t reach the top of that mountain to look down on others or to just hang out there. There’s work to be done… more challenges to take on… more learning to do… more GOD to have!
And finally… coming down off that “mountain” isn’t easy. Before those hills and I became so well acquainted, I thought that reaching the top would be like, “WOW!! You made it and the hard part is over!” I now know better. Coming down is almost, not quite, but almost, slower than going up believe it or not!! It’s so steep, a bit rocky in places, and you have to watch your footing a bit. Spiritually, it made me think… We’re not made to go down… it’s like going back into sin. Sometimes just that “one little thing” seems like it’s going to be easier, and “of course we can just go back up tomorrow” right? We tell ourselves that we serve a loving and forgiving God, and WE DO!! But sin is sin… and when we know better, yikes!! God calls us to be Holy as He is Holy! The bad thing about coming off that hill is that it is so much work going back up… and I haven’t climbed those hills in about 4 or 5 months. In that short amount of time, I really went backward. This walk was HARD today… because the last time I came down, I stayed down. But tomorrow will be easier, and the next day and the next. And again, THUS IS LIFE!!
God really blessed me today. I am so in love and in awe of Him. I feel like a wet noodle, physically and spiritually. My body was worked but so was my soul and Spirit. I am so thankful and would do it a billion times to have that time with my Father!
22Thrive! 