Treading the Incline

Oh, in the heat of a Texas summer, I drug out the lawnmower from the garage yesterday.  Reagan hates it when I mow for him, but his days are so full.  When he arrives home, we all long for time together as a family and I prefer to do the mowing, if possible, while he is at work.  BUT, with the heat, it was all I could do to get the front yard completed.  I mowed. I trimmed. Then, I cleared all the leftover grass.  As I mowed, I noticed that our yard has a slight incline.  Now, most of you would never notice it if you looked at our house, but suddenly as I pushed the lawnmower back and forth, I became keenly aware of it.  There was one thing I noticed- when I was pushing up the slight incline, I had a hard time seeing the tracks of where I had been before.  When, however, I was going downhill, I could easily see the tracks from the previous path and had a much easier time seeing the path I needed to tread.

This thought hit me.... isn't that like our spiritual walk.  When we are traveling an uphill struggle, we often have a hard time seeing how God worked in our past and the path that we need to travel down.  However, when we are traveling on the downhill of a trial, we can easily see how God was at work and suddenly the path seems clearer.  Doesn't that ring true with you?  So many times I have battled something and struggled to see God in the midst of it only to look back with a new found clarity when God delivered me past it.  The thing is... when I was traveling uphill, I had to search for the path- my focus was stronger.  So, it is with life.  When going climbing through a trial, our focus on the Father becomes so much stronger as we search- sometimes desperately so, for Him in the midst of it.  I believe that is why He allows us to tread up mountains- so we can seek Him more honestly.  Plus, the view from the top will be incredible.  Even in my mowing, there was such a small feeling of accomplishment when I stood at the top of our small incline and was able to see the progress being made.  In life, those spiritual mountaintop experiences are life changing and often become "markers"  of our spiritual growth.

"Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." (Romans 5:1-11 NLT)

Today, I am praying that God will bring me clarity in the trials I face each day and that He will bring peace as I climb the daily struggles that we all face.  It is my prayer that He, through the Holy Spirit, will graciously provide all that I need as climb, and praise and thanksgiving at the mountaintop.  That my path will be clearly seen and His praise ever on my lips. 

How about you today?  Are you in the midst of climbing a struggle?  Or, are you celebrating on the mountaintop?  No matter your position, His praise should be on your lips!  Even in the climb, His hand is the one pulling you forward- He is ever there.... and, always faithful.

Blessings!