Climb the mountain, or get out of the way!
God can move the mountains of our life- but what happens when He says, “No. Climb it.”
No pain, no gain- the dreaded words we hate to hear. That morning after feeling of fatigue and pain- when you are sure you have pulled a muscle as you go to roll over in bed. You feel as if you will die in agony and the thought of actually swinging your legs to the floor and getting out of bed causes you to wince in anticipation of the pain you are about to face. So now you have a choice. You ask God to relieve you of the pain, so that you can face another day… but God says, “No.”
The temptation of giving in to the pain and agony of building your muscles is the same feeling as the pain and agony we face when building our spiritual strength.
James tells us we will encounter trials. It is a necessary part of life. How we deal with those trials is what God is looking at you to see within yourself- He knows what you are going to do- but it is when you actually face the trials head on and “swing your legs off the bed and get up only to hobble back to the “gym” or your Bible – you will find relief from the pain.
Our muscles in our bodies react the same way- if you continue on a routine of working out, working hard, fighting through the pain, you will get stronger, you will reach goals, find successes… eventually looking at the pain from a different perspective: If I am not hurting the next day- I know I have not pushed myself to my fullest extent and I am angry with myself and that motivates me to work harder each work out, change up my routine, add some more weight, and move forward to a greater work out and results.
Whereas in my spiritual life, if I am skating through the trials, or letting the waves capsize me into spiritual paralysis – I find myself making excuses as to why I should not grow – I grumble, complain, start stating scriptures out of context, refusing to read my Bible, refusing to go to church and worship – eventually you find yourself on the road to defeat.
That is when we find that we have not only stopped working out, but we have gained an additional 5 or 10 pounds, we are more frustrated then ever and we find ourselves again facing the dilemma… fight or flight? Ask God to move the mountain or gear ourselves up for the climb… the long, hard, painful climb…. ?
“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”
(Joshua 1:9, NLT)
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Holly T. Ashley 
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