Coffee? Tea? Serenity?

During a phone conversation recently, I recalled a message that a dear friend of mine had shared with me. It was a message that made a profound impact in my walk of faith, and I was hoping to share that same impact with the person whom I was talking to. Today I chose to blog that message because it always seems that I can express myself better in writing. It is my prayer that this message blesses you as it did me.

I can distinctly recall the journey that I was going through when my friend shared her message of the mountain with me. It was a time that I knew, without a doubt, that God was calling me to make a decision in my life. It was a major one. That decision would not only mean changes for me, but for my husband and child as well. Although I knew that God was guiding me to and through that decision, the uncertainties that went with it were big stumbling blocks in my faith. One of those stumbling blocks was that I thought that I was on the path that was predetermined by God. Those stumbling blocks had caused me to delay the decision for a long time. I was sharing with my friend just how long I had been struggling with God’s call and the stumbling blocks that I had faced, over come, and faced again….over and over and over.

In her wisdom and faith, she encouraged me by using a mountain to help me understand the reason for my continuing to repeat the same journey over and over without having the feeling of success, accomplishment and growth that making that decision actually allowed me to have. The reason for my not feeling those is that I had yet to reach the next level of the mountain that God had placed me on.

Think of it this way……….

When we are youngsters, we have much to learn. We begin at the bottom of the mountain. As we progress through life according to God’s purpose and following His will, we also progress up the mountain. But, from time to time, we might stray from God’s purpose in our lives which causes us to go around that mountain, on the very same path, over and over and over. It seems that no matter how hard we try, we cannot bring ourselves up to the next level. We begin to feel frustrated and we pray more fervently asking God to show us the way. As we are doing this, He is placing small reminders that He is with us no matter what. Think of those as small billboards along the path of the mountain. At some point, you stop and think to yourself that you have already traveled that path. The path looks familiar. You have already experienced that pain. You have already exhausted yourself with the efforts in doing what you think is right. God still by your side, He blesses you with Holy Determination to move onward. Each time you travel the path, your faith, strength, and determination increases. You become more ready for the next level. But the one thing that is the most important on this journey around the mountain is your level of acceptance; acceptance of Christ, acceptance of self, and acceptance of God’s will in your life. It is only when we can fully accept these that we can be blessed with moving up the mountain to the next level. It is only when God sees our sincerity in that acceptance that he allows us to move up to that next level.

As each person is different, each mountain is different. As we progress in life, we may come to the top of one mountain; enjoy the feeling of that accomplishment for a while, then find that there is yet another mountain to climb with yet a different name and purpose.

Perhaps your mountain is patience. Perhaps your mountain is tolerance of others. Perhaps your mountain is learning to be bold. Perhaps your mountain is learning to be silent. Perhaps your mountain is a type of addiction. Perhaps your mountain is tithing. Perhaps your mountain is listening to others. It matters not what the name of the mountain is. It matters not how big the mountain appears. What does matter is how willing we are to grab hold of our faith, stand firm in it, and follow God’s promptings.

I have climbed many mountains thus far and I am sure that there will be more to climb. The one thing that I have learned during each climb is that God was with me on every one. I have journeyed around a couple of mountains several times, remaining on the very same level before coming to accept what God had been prompting me to do all along. I have climbed some mountains quickly, felt successful, and found myself falling to the bottom only to start all over because I did not master the steps that were needed. When faced with the situations that I thought I’d learned from, the realization was that I had not mastered them at all, but simply went through them without receiving their full benefit. The peace, praise, and moving onward comes when we have healed, learned, and completely submitted ourselves to God’s perfect plan for us.

I accepted God’s will in the decision that he prompted me to make. Hard as it was, I did it. It was not until weeks following that I realized that I had been on a path predetermined by God. I thought it was a path that I would walk for a very long time. It was one that brought enjoyment and allowed me to use talents that God had given me. It turned out to be a path that brought awareness of those talents and a time of learning so that I could bring them with me on to the next level. A level that was bigger and better. A level that allows me to give him praises.

With the encouragement and message of the mountain, my dear friend helped me to come to understand that in order to reach the one true purpose God had in mind for our lives, we often must travel several paths around, up, and down the mountains before we are able to be fully prepared for that purpose. Once we reach the top of one mountain, we are then ready to be blessed by the learning, healing, and growth that the next will bring.

Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed you in the womb I knew you