Don't Fear The Climb

February 15

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. Edmund Hillary

Although Sir Edmund Hillary had overcome one of the most formidable challenges ever tackled, and although he succeeded where others had failed, he knew that climbing Mt. Everest had not been the greatest challenge of his life. That was the loss of his wife and daughter in an airplane crash some years after he had conquered Everest. Perhaps before that, his greatest challenge had been the transformation that had been required of him--from bee-keeper in New Zealand to conqueror of the highest mountain in the world.

He knew the mountain posed enormous challenges, but they paled significantly when compared to the challenge of overcoming the 'self', of overcoming those attitudes and mindsets within each of us that keep us from venturing the climb; overcoming those circumstances that render us bound to the safe zones. Perhaps the biggest challenge of all is discerning the difference between those things we can tackle and overcome with resolution, and those that can't be budged by our determination.

The words of Reinhold Niebuhr ring true..."Lord, give me the courage to change the things I can change and the willingness to accept the things I cannot change; and give me the wisdom to know the difference." Hillary could have looked at the mountain and pondered the reality that an expert climber, Mallory, had perished in the attempt. But he didn't. He had climbed in the Alps and he had climbed in the Himalayas and he had the courage to pursue the more formidable peak rather than to accept defeat before even attempting the climb.

Sometimes we have before us the same options--recognizing the potential for failure or the possible exhilaration of accomplishment and appropriating the wisdom to discern which option is right. Important to our decision is our timing. As wisdom itself admonishes us, we must know when to speak and when to be silent (Ecclesiastes 3:7). Our words, though right, though powerful, though needful, if spoken at the wrong time will fail to achieve their intended purpose. If spoken aptly, they can be, as the Word says, "apples of gold in pictures of silver" (Proverbs 25:11).

I pray for you the wisdom of Solomon who understood the value of ascertaining things as God perceives them, who, when told by God to ask for anything he wanted, did not request of Him wealth or power or victory in battle, but for wisdom to lead the nation over which he had been made king. (I Kings 3:5-9). May you possess the wisdom to desire God's heart as regards the circumstances in your life.

May you overcome the twin peaks of doubt and dread within yourself that would keep you at the foot of the mountain and may you resist the temptation to attempt to scale them at an inopportune season. Only God can give you the wisdom Niebuhr requested of Him—to know the difference between fear that would hold you back and the Lord who would bid you wait a more opportune season. And may He also give you the courage of the beekeeper who didn't fear the climb at its appointed time.