Some times life is hard.
Some times our walk with God is hard.
Yesterday i went on the hardest physical journey of my life. My team decided we were going to climb this mountain to get to this waterfall. Sounds simple enough.
It was not.
8 hours of hiking. 13 miles of scaling these small slippery paths up and down this mountain. The most exhausting thing i have ever attempted.
3 hours in i was so ready to be home. But home was hours away and the only way to get there was to finish. There was no car that could come pick me up, there wasn’t even a road. I couldn’t just sit myself down and suddenly appear back at the house. I had to finish walking. I had to continue with my quarter sized blisters on my ankles. I had to continue with my heart pounding hard enough to feel it in my throat. I had to continue to the end even though my clothes were drenched and dripping to the ground with my sweat. Even when my empty stomach rose to meet my head and blackness clouded my vision. Even when my legs shook from exhaustion and the emptiness of my water bottle no longer held reprieve for my thirst. I had to finish.
Sometimes our walk with God is exhausting. Sometimes we feel like sitting down and saying, “I’m not going any farther”. Sometimes our misery and exhaustion clouds our vision and we simply can’t think straight. “It’s too hard. I can’t do it anymore.” But you know what, you can do it. I did it. I finished. Even when i was miserable the whole time. Even when i thought I was going to die and someone was going to have to carry me off that mountain. I finished.
I had a similar situation this month with the Race. I was tiered. I was angry. I was done. I didn’t want to go any further. I wanted to sit down and let the rest of my team cary on business and let me pout and wait to be rescued. You know, it doesn’t work like that. You have to choose to keep going. You have to choose. Even when your strength isn’t enough. You have to choose to rely on God’s strength.
Your strength isn’t enough to help you live a life God has called you to. You need His.
If He called you to a life with Him, you can’t rely on yourself. You HAVE to rely on Him. Because you can’t live a life for Him, without Him. Its not possible.
He’s calling me to finish the Race, just like He is calling me to rely on His strength and not my own. Some times the process is painful. And hard. And long! But He will bring you to the other side. He will get you home and put bandages on your blisters. He will be there for you. The whole time. Trust in Him and learn to rely on His strength. Not your own.
