God’s Country

This is a shot from one of my trips to Colorado…pretty cool trip.  This shot was taken at about 11,500 ft. where our base camp was located.  Basically we hike from about 8,500 ft to 11,500 ft over about seven miles, set up camp, and summit some 14,ooo ft peaks.  It goes without saying that for an Oklahoma boy it was physically challenging.  I was way out of my element.  The environment was foreign and the terrain was way above my skill level.  Let me make it a little more clear…it kicked my butt!  Here’s the thing though.  When I finally reached based camp, and could barely stand up, I saw right away something that I could apply to my life back home.  In the mountains, the beauty that surrounds  you is indiscribable.  It is impossible for one to understand what it is to be surrounded by the enormity of the Rockies, to feel so small in the eyes of those towering piles of granit.  The sky, the basin, the mountains, the clear lakes, everything seemed like a painting that had come to life.  Talk about feeling like a grasshopper!  It was truly breath-taking.  Here’s what I realized though.  Even though this beauty was available for everyone, only a few would ever experience it.  See, it wasn’t set aside for a select few, and there were no rules that said you had to make a certain amount of money or that you had to do anything out of the ordinary to partake.  No, there was only one thing that seperated me, or anyone else for that matter, from this awesomeness–it was the willingness to DO what it took to get there.  It took some serious effort for me to exit the comfort of the Oklahoma elevation and landscape where I could breath without effort and walk without strain and enter a place far above the “plain” upon which I was living.  What an amazing analogy of what it takes to experience God’s best.  I couldn’t help but think that if one wants to tred in “God’s country” one must be willing to “labor” and do what it takes.  After my first trip, and my realization of what it takes to enjoy this “other level”, I began to put in some serious training each year before I go.  The harder I train before that trip, the better the experience is when I get there.  It’s too late to start training at the trail-head.  Preperation must take place BEFORE.  God is not going to take us to a place that we are not prepared for.  Heading up into the mountains unprepared could be certain death, and our spiritual walk is no different.  We can only go where we are prepared to go.  Doing what we hate today will allow us to have what we love in the future.

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~ by chadlarge on August 5, 2009.