hello friends!
So the other day I did this crazy thing here in Colorado Springs called "the incline." Sounds pretty impressive, huh? haha - but if you saw me doing it, you wouldn't be so impressed anymore! I just have to laugh at myself when I try to be all cool and athletic. I always end up making people slow down and wait for me and I'm breathing so hard and I feel so gross. Who am I trying to fool?! :D It's pretty hilarious. But nonetheless, I had fun, because I was with two of my really good friends here, Jake and Terry, and even though they are both hugely more athletic than me, they were kind enough to take it slowly with me :)
Here's a picture of us:
Isn't that an amazing view? But let me tell you something: you are NOT thinking about the view when you are climbing it. All you are thinking is "can I make the next 10 steps?" "Do have what it takes to get to the top of this thing?" Every now and then, you stop to breath and look behind you, and BOOM! There's this gorgeous view. And even though you've been moving at a snail's pace, you realize, "wow! I actually have made some progress!"
This didn't come to me until a few days later, but it hit me between the eyes. I believe those moments are from the Lord - because this image struck me so strongly that I almost started to cry in the middle of class (and that's saying a lot, cuz I'm not much of a crier). Here it is:
Aren't our spiritual lives like the incline? We start at the bottom of this mountain all excited because we look at we see the destination, then we start climbing. The further we go, the harder it is, because we realize how out of shape we really are. There are times when it feels like you can't take one more step and you wonder "have I made ANY progress whatsoever?" And then you turn around and see - wow, I have gotten somewhere!
Now I'm gonna pull Terry and Jake into this. They walked the journey with me. If it was just me climbing that mountain, I know I would have given up or it would've taken ALOT longer. But because of their strength, fellowship, and servant hood to help me along the path, I was able to move faster and be stronger. This represents the Body of Christ to me. If I have learned anything in my short amount of years, it's the importance of community. Nothing will make us fall faster as believers than "lone-ranger Christianity." We need to surround each other, encourage each other, spur each other on, challenge each other, and be strong when others feel weak. What a beautiful thing true Christian community is! Oh that more churches would exemplify this to the world.
I hope this touches your soul the way it did mine. God is so good - he can turn an afternoon hike into a spiritual parallel that rocks your world!
