Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Mountains

               The following is from my son's mission team in Haiti. A great lesson for all of us.
The hike up this mountain was a team building exercise. The physically stronger members of the team willingly provided support for the weaker members by using words of encouragement or physical support.  There were those like John Wesley who even held hands with the weaker members for the entirety of the hike just to ensure the safety of the team.  Their love and respect really shone.

At the top of the mountain, I talked to Ms. Ketly about her motivation for climbing to the top of the mountain even though it was clearly very difficult.  It would have been easy for her to stop in the middle of the trail and give up.  However, Ms. Ketly refused to give in to the difficulty of the hike and persevered all the way through.  While talking to Ms. Ketly she explained that her secret in perseverance was based on her ability to approach the top with one step at a time.  Ms. Ketly claimed that she would not have been able make it to the top if she kept her eyes locked towards the peak because it would constantly remind her of the great distance she would have to cover to reach the top.  Instead, she focused all her concentration on taking the next step, and before she knew it, she had reached her destination. 

This mentality of taking one step at a time makes daunting tasks manageable.  Many times, we Christians give up on seemingly impossible tasks because the destination seems so far away from our current location.  However, if we trust God to give us the strength and concentrate on what we should do at the moment, God allows us to things for his kingdom that may seem impossible for limited beings such as us.  Therefore, when we are called by God to do his will, we must trust Him with each step along the way.