Mountain Views and Uphill Difficulties

I was on my morning walk that happens to be on a lovely park trail. On my walks I normally stick to leveled ground; I select walking routes with beautiful scenery in lovely neighborhoods. However, this particular morning I decided to see where a  path, never taken before, would lead me.  I realized the path’s inclined differed greatly from my assumptions, but it was too late for me to turn around; I was committed to finishing no matter what (mainly because there were other people on the trail and I didn’t want my laziness to show).  I’m leaving out my favorite part of my morning walks; my conversations with God are indescribable and make the walk beyond beautiful.  This particular morning I heard the Lord say “change your pace” I laughed because I was running out of breath and becoming discouraged.  I then heard “ Do you think you’re the only one to climb?”  Ok, God.  We are CLEARLY talking about more than this hill.  The Lord began to show me empathy concerning Moses and what it took for him to go into the presence of the Lord.  The mountain of the Lord was no joke, and although the Lord could’ve removed the climb for Moses, the pace was too important a lesson to glaze over.  

Finding the Rhythm  of Your Calling’s & Up and Down Difficulties 

I am often hard on myself in my daily walk (spiritually and naturally).  I fully desired to walk up the hill at the same pace I’d done so on leveled ground, but that wasn’t possible and proved hard on my knees.  When the Lord instructed me to slow down, he also pointed out that other areas of my body were being worked on that were ignored on leveled ground. However, the BIGGEST lesson was learned on the decline.  I thought I’d be  able to go faster, but I again heard “change your pace”.  He then pointed out that rushing can cause harm and maybe I should consider slowing my pace to enjoy the rest of my walk in a different way.  When I changed my pace I experienced immediate comfort.  I didn’t look like I was about to trip and the “hurry up” feelings went away.  The Lord pointed out to me that I’d accomplished some pretty great things, but wasn’t giving myself the opportunity to enjoy it from a seat of rest. 

The goal is to change the pace and allow the Lord to adjust what is necessary, and when we are done with the moments of contrast (uphill battles of life) enjoy the victory.  It is not that we have arrived and are finished being refined.  The truth is what we are called to do has a teaching and learning rhythm, and the curriculum is developed by the Lord.  He knows what’s best and we know that the decline means another hill is just around the corner.  The best consolation is the great delight in the seat of rest afforded us in our learning process.