I'm on a journey. For me, living this life is more than an endless chain of getting up in the morning, eating, working, eating, going to bed at night, and the same the next day. It's not a stroll through the park, feeding the pigeons and going back home - walking in circles. Instead, for me, life is the journey up the mountain.
It's a constant way upwards. And the climb up the mountain is challenging. It's thrilling, exhausting, sometimes painful, yet exhilarating. The very fact that I'm moving upwards doesn't mean it feels good all the time. The higher I climb, the thinner the air gets. It takes the body time to adjust to every new stage of height, and that, apart from the effort of climbing, isn't very pleasurable.
But the higher I climb, the view gets better. It gets more amazing, and the higher I am up this mountain, the further I can see. Every success gives me a boost to move on. Every breath-taking view promises more beauty to see as I keep going.
But what do I do if the weather gets bad? Or if I'm getting too tired, too worn out? What happens if I have trouble breathing?
If I'm facing the rock in front of me for too long, that is all I see. Grey, hard stone. The higher I climb, the lesser flowers and plants I get to see. But I need to face the rock wall because if I'm not in a secure place yet, looking backwards in order to see how high up I've come can cause me too stumble and fall.
But what if I have lost my way? I mean - seriously lost it? I don't know where my position is, where I need to go and if I have enough strength or air to do the next step and climb any higher. My head is full of the theory of the mountain and climbing it, in my mind I've got it all figures out, but my body simply can't do any more. I'm lost. Completely exhausted and lost.
When that happens, there is one thing I must do: Go back to base camp.
That doesn't mean I'm giving up. And it doesn't mean I'm not going to reach the top of the mountain eventually. But if I don't go back now, I could seriously risk of never reaching it and dying on the way up!
So - back to base camp, now.
God - is - love.
God - loves - me.
Jesus - died - and - rose - for - me.
I - belong - to - God - through - Jesus.
That is where the journey began. If I rest in that place, long enough, and then start again, knowing that this remains true all the way up, I might just get a little further the next time.
