Do.... Do Not..... There is No Try

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." James 3:17

I walked the mountain with my friend today. I asked if I could trail along, he said, "You can't keep up." I said, "Oh ye, of little faith."

The path was steep. Very steep and my legs held out, but my lungs…that was a different matter. He sprinted up an incline, I crawled and all along, though I couldn't see him, he kept shouting, "You dead yet?"

I had to stop and rest, having bad lungs isn't an excuse－it's a physical fact. But all the while, I kept saying, "You go ahead. I'll get there." And I did. Eventually.

The last part of the walk was a detour. You see, my friend, I think felt sorry for me, so he altered the trail we took. But it was a pretty neat detour, because the reward was sitting beneath a huge overhanging boulder looking at the creation of the Father, talking about the wonders that God managed to make in seven short days.

That climb was a hard one and half way up I was crying to the Father to give me air. I was choking. "Just get me to the top. I'll do it however you want -－ even if it's on my hands and knees." And you know, there was point, it was on my hands and knees. I was frustrated and a little mad the walk was so hard, but wow －the reward worth the crawl.

Sometimes we have to go to our hands and knees before the righteousness comes. Growing in the Father isn't easy. He tends to sprint the steep sections of the walk and leave us behind. That's a little scary, looking up and not seeing the guide. Still in the distance, we hear Him calling－we simply have to listen. Learning the meaning of His love may occasionally mean crawling alone, becoming submissive to His will. Something we struggle and wiggle our way clear. But when bend at the knees, press our palms to the ground there is traction and there is success.

So, I lost a bet today--sorta. I made the efforts. To quote Yoda from Star Wars, "Do....Do Not....There is no try." We either get to the business of knowing God or we don't. There is no try. Is your walk always standing or do you crawl? Trust me, crawling helps. It's a slow process, nothing good is easy, but when you do, the reward is worth the effort.