This time last year I was the fittest I'd ever been. Today I ate my body weight in chocolate, crisps and ice cream - the no sugar detox met its happy end as soon as someone at work offered me a doughnut. I can feel my muscles disintegrating as I type. Never did I regret my lack of fitness more than when I somehow found myself here:
Pretty incredible right? (and I don't just mean my beautiful self)
Don't be fooled. What you can't see is how I'd spent the 45 minutes before this photo was taken - testing the patience of my hiking extraordinaire Norwegian partner-in-climb by clinging to the rockface praying “Lord have mercy, O Jesus” with every step up and every foot climbed higher. This was a place where an over or under balance, a misstep or overstep could send you tumbling 700m down to a freezing cold lake. We passed at least one person frozen to the rock, tears streaming down their face, family and friends trying to coax/bully them to move forward.
It reminded me of an oft forgotten truth – sometimes the amazing and perplexing things of God require us to first push through and embrace nerves and uncertainty.
The Besseggen Ridge is a 14km hike over a ridge of mountains. And it’s called a ridge for a reason - most of the hike is a pathway through the wilderness but a good 2km is a narrow narrow narrow path along the ridge - think, steps into Mordor but with better views and no Gollum. At some points, you literally have to use your hands and feet to climb up the mountain. Incredibly, some people actually take their dogs - what can I say, Norwegians be hardcore.
At one check point the sign cheerily informs you that the route ahead is narrow and hard, but there is an alternative route - 4km longer but less perilous. Not gonna lie.
I was tempted.
I'd admired the scenery, walked at least 10km and scaled some scary rock walls, a nice gentle, flat stroll around a lake sounded like a rather jolly ending to the day. But it wasn't what we set out to do. We would have reached the end happy to have made it and with some lovely photos of the lake but wondering what we missed seeing from the mountain top.
It’s so cliché, but we really do have to take that first step up the mountain and then another and then another and then another. Keep stepping through the nerves, keep stepping through the fear, leaning on faith to hold us up, give us hope and help us endure.
Sometimes endurance is pressing on through fear and uncertainty, trusting the evidence of things we cannot yet see, confident that what we hope for is going to happen.
“But God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if he doesn’t come through.” Francis Chan
When we’re walking with God at our side there is no risk. Need to hear a great message on this? Listen here.
The potential for the amazing and perplexing move of God is just right over the line from safe and comfortable and right through terrifyingly exciting, unpredictable and uncontrollable. It would take too long to recount the stories of faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Mary, Ruth, David, Samuel and all the prophets. Did they have to face terrifyingly exciting and uncertain? Sure but by faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice and received what God had promised them.
Ever been there? Faced with two options. One tough but potentially rewarding, the other slightly more gentle but a possible less dramatic finish? Ever been tired of the climb and ready for something else? Ever been frozen in fear unable to move forward and just as unable to move back? That's ok. Me too.
Take heart, keep your eyes on Jesus, put on the armour of God and pray. For the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16v9
"Sometimes the power of prayer is the power to carry on. It doesn't always change your circumstances but it gives you the strength to walk through them...the burden is taken off of your shoulders and put on the shoulders of Him who carried the cross to Calvary." Mark Batterson
