The other day, Mark, Haley, and I set off to climb a mountain during our free time. We didn’t really know exactly what the mountain climbing would look like, whether it would be simply walking a dirt path up to the top, or maneuvering jagged rocks and boulders the whole way. The mountain wasn’t that big, I mean not compared to others in the mountain family, but to me (who is deathly afraid of heights), it was pretty dang big.
We decided it would be much more fun to actually climb it as opposed to walking it, so we didn’t really look for a path; instead we just started right up the first couple rocks we saw. Obviously there were several different ways that we could try to get up to the top, but we thought that the most challenging way would be the most fun as well. And it was pretty fun, not too terribly difficult, and as long as I didn’t look down, I wasn’t too scared either.
The way down was a completely different story. If you ever go rock climbing, you know that getting up is a lot easier than getting down (and keep in mind by “rock climbing” I mean basically going up a mountain made of rocks, not ropes and the whole deal). So we decide we need to actually find a path to get down, because otherwise we are going to have to slide down steep rocks with barely any grip, and my Nikes may be helpful in running, but they are not good rock climbing shoes.
Well, there wasn’t a path to get down, or at least we couldn’t find one. So we began to carefully slide down rocks. I kept on trying to go down on my butt, so that I could see where I was going, and each time Mark kept telling me that the best way to go down was facing the rock and not sitting on it. I wasn’t so convinced, since doing it that way meant that I couldn’t actually see where I was going and I would have to follow someone else’s directions in order to place my feet in the correct position (in other words, trust Mark).
Isn’t life often like that? We tell God he can have control. We “completely” surrender all to Him. We “trust” him. But we still want to go face-first, checking everything out before we actually go forward. We want to look at the road before us and decide what we think is the best way, rather than trust the one person who can see the whole picture, and who can tell us each step along the way, guaranteeing a safe arrival at the end.
When I first decided to go on the world race, I gave up checking everything out on my own. I turned to face to the rock and began to climb down, trusting God to tell me where to place my feet. And now, as I am in my second month of this trip, I catch myself sometimes trying to turn my body back and head down the rock, scoping everything out along the way.
Giving complete control to God is not a onetime thing. As the days go on, our selfish nature takes over and tries to convince us that we should be in control and that we know best. Giving that control back over to God is something that I have learned I must do each and every day, and sometimes I must even remind myself multiple times throughout the day. I have learned to start each morning by audibly telling God that I choose Him and give him complete control. I turn and face the rock and trust Him for guidance. Let go and let God!
