My team and I spent our last week in the mountains of Peru.
Life looked different. We lived among indigenous people in the middle of the mountains who lived off of the land. There was no running water, no toilets, electricity was scarce, cars didn’t exist, only horses and traveling by foot, trails were rocky, muddy, and narrow, and no stores were in sight.
Upon first arrival I was a little taken aback and honestly not sure what to think of my surroundings. As I looked around though I was surrounded by immense beauty as the mountains framed every horizon around me and I was literally in the clouds. Among so much brokenness there was so much beauty to be found.
The Lord reminded me that we are not called to live comfortable lives. Matthew 10:28 tells us not to fear things that can destroy the body but things that can destroy the soul. Jesus doesn’t call us to be safe or live lives of complacency, comfort, and oblivion.
When we reach a place of comfort the Lord doesn’t stretch us or grow us. When we are living lives of discomfort, in the unknown and truly seeking Him that is when we rely on Him most because we have no one else or nothing else to turn to.
The Lord used this time of stripping my comforts to remind me where my focus should be and He is who I should seek continually. When fully relying on Him and fixing our eyes above our perspectives can be shifted drastically.
While climbing up the mountain, traipsing through the mud and rocks not knowing if I would stay on my own two feet, I had to cry out to the Lord and fully rely on Him. I sought the Lord, asked Him to be my strength, and He let me make it to the top.
Each day my comforts were stripped and my dependence on the Lord increased and I am forever grateful.
