My view of an imperfect but wonderful life

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Still Upward

Still upward be thine onward course,
For this I pray today;
Still upward as the years go by,
And seasons pass away

Still upward in this coming year,
Thy path is all untried;
Still upward may'st thou journey on,
Close by thy Savior's side.

Still upward e'en though sorrow come,
And trials crush thine heart;
Still upward may they draw thy soul.
With Christ to walk apart.

Still upward till the day shall break,
And shadows all have flown;
Still upward til in Heaven you wake,
And stand before the throne.

I stole... excuse me borrowed... a great devotional book from my house before I left. I saw this poem in it and following the poem, there was a statement. The author said "We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains." That phrase really stood out to me. It is true. A lot of times we are so willing just to stay where we are in our life and our walk with God, that we forget He created us to impact our world. There will be times that we are ready for a change, and start to make something happen; and then possibly, it seems as if a door closed on our plans. So automatically we assume that if it's too difficult to get past a certain point then it "wasn't God's Will". Well did you every think that perhaps it just wasn't YOUR will???

When God created the world, He put those beautiful sometimes snowcapped mountains in place. Those RUGGED, steep, treacherous mountains. If you were to try to climb up the smooth side of the mountain how would you even make it all the way to the top? God made the mountains rugged for a reason. He knew how incredible the view from the mountain top is, and that if just one person could make it to the top, then they could share how worthwhile that long hard journey really is.

How are you going to become all you can be for God if you are content to stay where you are, and never get out of your comfort zone?? There should never be a comfort zone where the things of God are concerning. He did not put us on this earth to blend into the background, and never grow in His Word. He put us here to do His Will and to be all we can be for Him.

If we found the courage to climb those mountains, who knows what glory awaits us there???

Too low they build who build below the stars.

2 comments:

idida martinez said...

Thanks Erica!!!!

Nila said...

Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for showing us your heart. I'm so proud of you, daughter.