LESSONS LEARNED CLIMBING MOUNTAINS

Psalm 121:1 7 2 says, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

What a wonderful picture the LORD gives us to keep looking up. He doesn’t want us to look to history for our help, because looking to history will have you looking back. He doesn’t want us to look to science, because science will have us looking around. Nor does He want us to look to philosophy, as it will have us looking within, but rather, He wants us to look at Scripture, because the Scriptures will have us looking up!

As I though my own experiences with mountains, several thoughts come to mind:

I. WE ALL HAVE MOUNTAINS TO CLIMB

I think it is safe to say that if you live any length of time, there will be times you will have to climb some mountains. These mountains may be relational, they may be medical, they may be financial or even spiritual. We all have faced our own mountains.

II. THE BEST WAY TO CLIMB A MOUNTAIN IS TO PREPARE

Research the Mountain you are climbing – get to know everything you can that will help you to overcome the mountain;

Start Training for the Climb – get mentally, physically and spiritually ready to climb.

Take Time to get Acclimated to the conditions and Elevation of the climb. This may be your new “norm.”

Take Time to Hone Your Climbing Skills – get in the Word of God.

Find Someone to Train You or Assist You with the Climb. Whatever mountain you are climbing, there are others that have climbed it before you, so get their support and advice.

III. ALTHOUGH YOU TRAINED, THE CLIMB STILL ISN’T EASY.

IV. IT IS REWARDING TO MAKE IT TO THE TOP – You get a sense of accomplishment and will gain a fresh perspective with a better view. You will see things after the climb that you didn’t see before the climb.

V. THE MERE FACT THAT YOU ARE FACING A MOUNTAIN MEANS YOU ARE PROBABLY ALREADY IN THE VALLEY. When God led the children of Israel out of Bondage from Egypt, he told them that the land He had espied for them, the land that was flowing with milk and honey, the land that was the glory of all lands (Canaanland) was a land of “Hills and Valleys.” Every one of our lives are filled with hills and valleys. It seems to be a continual, repeating process. But I want you to understand that our God a big ole God up on that mountain top, and He’s a big ole God down in your valley as well.

I think what God really wants me to share with you is that no matter what you are going through in your life – and I know some of you facing some mountains, you have been in the valley – God wants you to know that He’s not mad at you, He’s not angry at you, He’s not shaking His fist at you – He’s just using those things in your life as faith-builders.  Our help and our hope is not going come from Oprah or Dr. Phil – OUR HELP AND HOPE IS GOING TO COME FROM THE LORD.