Mountain Climber

I know the game show "The Price is Right" is still out there on some channel, but I've been reminiscing about the original show with Bob Barker and crew that aired back in the 70's & 80's. I know, just another signal that I'm old, when you start talking about things that the majority of your readers don't know what you are talking about, you have entered the "getting old zone". Yet, I digress. Celebrity game show host Bob Barker presented contestants and the television audience with so many suspenseful prize-winning games and I assume many of those including the money wheel still exist. The game that sticks in my head the most was one where a yodeling mountain climber trekked up the mountain based on the difference in a guess and actual price of an item. If the guess was off too much the yodeler toppled off the mountain before reaching their menagerie of prizes. In life we all are climbing a mountain, but in contrast to the game show climber, our confidence as we climb is not based on a guess, we have an assurance of our destination and our ultimate prize. 

 

No secrets today, this message has one sole purpose, encouragement for those who feel like the mountain in front of them is too hard to climb and it just doesn't feel like it is worth the effort. Let me assure you it is. Your journey up the mountain may be challenging, it may be hard, it may even seem like at times it is insurmountable, but you have to keep climbing. One hand over the other, one step forward and possibly ten steps back, yet we must journey on. Ever looking upward towards our goal, never giving space to the notion of quitting because that isn't what mountain climbers do, their purpose is to reach the top and that my friend is where the mountain of God is always calling you. Onward and upward, one step, two steps, three...

 

A couple of things to keep in mind as you face that mountain in your path forward. First, as singer, songwriter Mac Powell from the band Third Day dutifully sings it, "...you must go through the valley to stand upon the mountain of God!" We all have to start somewhere and, in many cases, we find ourselves at the bottom of the mountain, in the valley. We may not have started in a valley, but circumstances and situations happen and there we are at the bottom looking up towards the mountain peak that almost appears to be unobtainable. Climb on. Strap up your boots, buckle down your backpack, and tighten up your belt. You've got some traversing to do. 

 

Second thing to remember is, there are loose rocks, slippery slopes, and deep crevasses along the way. No reason to turn back. Anyone who has climbed a mountain before you had to endure and encompass similar potential hazards as they scaled upwards towards their pinnacle. Why should your journey be any different? Did someone along the way promise you that life would be easy? Did your parents make your childhood a paved road journey and just as life seemed like everything was going your way, kaboom, you tumbled down the side of your mountain much like a snowball picking up momentum and size as it's trajectory heads south? Maybe you've been climbing mountains your whole life, maybe life just didn't deal you a fair hand. Is that you? Well, life may be tough, but I promise you this, God created each of us with a purpose in mind. Each person was created with a mountain to climb, some of us with many more mountains than others, and some of us with much steeper mountains than those that live right there with us or beside us. Journey on, whatever mountain you have to climb, the view at the top of that mountain is worth every ounce of energy and effort that it takes to scale upward towards the top. 

 

Lastly, you are not climbing that mountain alone. The God who made you, is the same God that is going with you along your journey towards the top of that mountain standing in your path. I almost wrote standing in your way, but I want to suggest that your mountain may very well be your journey in life. Others are watching you, some are depending on you, what are you going to do, give up and quit? No, we journey on and continue to scale upward because that is exactly what you were created to do! God made man in His own image, (Genesis 1:27) and we know that God doesn't quit when our life gets tough. Through God we actually gain the strength and courage to carry on and continually trek upward. We have this promise, "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8. Forward and upward, that is where you are headed today, yesterday, and tomorrow! Climb on. 

 

The yodeling mountain climber on Barker's "Price is Right" show sings his way upward as he marches towards the peak of that game’s mountain. We praise God for not only the mountain top where we are all striving to reach each day, but we must give Him thanks for the valleys, the crevasses, and any other barrier that stands between us and the mountain top with God. The journey may be hard, it may be challenging, and it may even feel like it is too much to overcome, but I challenge you today to trust God's plan for your life. Whether you know His plan or if you haven't heard from God in years, know this. God will not allow you to walk alone. He walks alongside you each and every day. Praise God for the valleys, the slippery slopes, and the peaks that appear insurmountable. I will journey forward and I will reach the top of His mountain! Amen

 

Coach Carter