I saw a sign in a Montana airport once that read ‘When life gives you mountains, put your boots on and start hiking.’ I think about that sign often, specifically when I’m scaling the cliffs of life, when I’m navigating through tough terrain, fighting like crazy to deny the temptation of taking a shortcut. Disciplining the mind and emotions to remain rooted in faith, to step even when we don’t feel like it, even when we don’t see immediate results, is difficult.
And even though the words on that Montana sign make our approach to difficulty seem pretty simple, I’m reminded that to accomplish any goal worth reaching, the act of putting on your boots and choosing to walk is far from simple. Accomplishing a goal is just as much about what you’re willing to give up as it is what you’re willing to do. If we want something enough, we should ask ourselves, “What am I willing to give up in order to obtain it?”
Not only should we consider what we are willing to give up, but we must also determine if we’re willing to welcome struggle.
Most of us, probably all of us, want to make a positive impact in the world around us. We want to be successful in the work we put our hands to. We want to have a great marriage. We want deeper faith. We want to raise children who live purpose-filled lives, this life of a difference – children who are able to look back on the way we raised them and say, “That’s what I will carry on into my family.”
But I think a valid question that will ultimately determine if we reach our goals is this: how much are we willing to struggle for it? Are we willing to walk through the uncomfortable and painful in order to achieve it? Our on-demand, carefree cultural tendencies often distract from these important questions as well as our answers.
In Exodus 13:17-18, Pharaoh had finally let the Israelites go but God did not point His people toward the Promised Land by way of the shortest path. Scripture says, “So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.” He led them through a longer wilderness route in order to refine them so that when they faced difficulty they would face it well.
Join me in praying for the courage to adopt the plans God gives and the bold faith to keep walking, embracing the refining struggles that will come along the way.
– Brodie Croyle
