Got a Mountain to Climb?

Danny loves Lord of the Rings in any form. We have watched all the movies. Most recently we watched the Hobbitt 2 at a little cinema in one of our favorite small towns. When the projector started up the screen vibrated and I could recall us as teenagers hollering out to fix it! We were so impatient back then. And we knew we could make noise and they’d adjust it. Not so here. The film jiggled a little throughout, but back to the story.

The other night I had a Hobbitt dream. I was crawling along a black jagged mountain, pretty high up in the air. It was dark and damp and everything was black including the clothes I had on. Everywhere I grabbed I heard the voice of the Lord say, “No not there. You can’t hold onto that. It won’t hold you, you will plummet to your death.” Everywhere I tried to “hang on” I was warned not to.

I woke up and heard God speak to my heart:  “It’s normal to want to hold onto familiar things when traveling through hard places. But holding onto those things will not be safe for you.  Grasping at anything that is subject to change puts you in peril. You’ll have to simply hang onto Me. Nothing else will do. No one else will do. You are on a trek like no other. But I am with you all the way and you will make it safely.”

I thought about that and remembered that in the dream I had no fear, just simply letting go when He spoke to do so. Now those who know me know that I am not a mountain climber so the fact that I was peaceful in the dream leads me to believe this was a learning moment between the Lord and me.  Which makes me believe that maybe someone else could learn from it as well.

Oh beloved, you too are on the trek of a lifetime. This is big stuff learning to climb the heights with the Lord. You know in your heart that you want to go wherever He leads and do whatever He says. Yet it’s scary letting go of things that you want to hold onto.  And sometimes it can be scary only holding onto Him. Is He enough? Will He be there for you? You want to know the outcome and see the hand holds ahead, but you only get each step of the way as you go.  But oh the knowledge of Him you will have when you reach your next destination! The Lord Himself is your stepping stone, your hand hold and your guiding light no matter how obscure the next move is. He is safety, peace, and trust.

God loves you, really completely loves you. And He’s for you, to guide you all the way, and that’s why you can listen as He instructs you all the days of your life.

Isaiah 48: 17 This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God,  who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.

Habakkuk 3:19 The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.

Psalm 63:8 My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 20:7 Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.

 Isaiah 41:13 “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

Go Ahead! You Can Do It! Fear Must Flee!

A friend’s children and a couple of their cousins took swimming lessons last week. Everyone learned much although some of them became quite adept at swimming. Her 5 year old son can now at least dog paddle in the water without going under.

But he wanted to do more than that. He wanted to dive from the diving board. He wanted to be able to jump in and swim to the edge. That was his goal.

His mom watched him as he stood on the diving board. He tried so hard to make himself jump yet his fear of heights was stronger than his desire to jump! He was encouraged by his grandmother and his mother and his swim coach. But shaking at the edge of the board, he could not bring himself to do it. Afterwards he was so frustrated with himself as he told his mother, “It looks easy from the side of the pool, but when I get up there it’s REALLY HIGH!”  One day I am sure that sweet little boy will overcome his fears and enjoy the jump, but for now fear looks like the winner.

There is built within each one of us a desire to excel. We have high hopes for ourselves and great dreams and visions.  We daydream of flying higher than high. We have the want to; we earnestly think about it, dream about it and plan it. But when it comes to doing it, to really putting feet to our ideals, that’s when trouble comes.  That’s when fear shows up.

Fear is an incredible force – a foe to be reckoned with.  It will take us by the hand and lead us totally away from our dreams, all the while telling us we just cannot do it. It will make us think we can’t breathe, we can’t move, we can’t go forward.  Fear is a liar and a jailor. It will give us propaganda and then put us behind bars for life.

But there is Hope! His name is Jesus and He came to set us free! Free from fear itself and all of its cohorts – fear of failure, fear of the paste and all the regrets, fear of the future, fear of things, fear of people, and all of the other the fears that we can succumb to.

Nowhere in the Bible will you see your name tied to fear. Not once does God give you a spirit of fear. Never will He encourage you to let fear take you by the hand.  Under no circumstances will God say, go back, you are too afraid! In fact, God Himself gives us marvelous witness to His abounding strength overcoming all our fears! Look to Gideon hiding from his enemies, Elijah running for his life, and Peter denying Christ; all of these great men of faith battled fears that plagued their lives and yet they went on to overcome those fears!

Oh beloved, it’s time to step out on the end of the diving board of life and take the plunge! God means for you to have life MORE abundantly! He says to you this morning, I know your fears and I know your weaknesses, but through ME you can go where I send you and thwart the enemy’s tactical forces of fear. Today is your day to say No to Fear and send it back where it came from. It’s your day to reach for the sky with faith and achieve the goals God has put on your heart.

God loves you and He’s for you and that, beloved, always puts fear to flight!

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.

Joshua 1:9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?

Isaiah 41:13 For I hold you by your right hand— I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.’

Psalm 31:24 So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!

Ephesians 6:10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.