Just Climb the Hill in Front of You

We all face difficult decisions and difficult tasks. There are things we know we must do which we would refuse to do if we could. They are hills that we must climb. They sometimes hurt and take a great deal of effort. We wonder how we came to this situation which has made us climb this hill. Yet, climb it, we must.

Our hills may be represented by confronting a friend who is caught in an affair. You need to tell him or her that he or she is destroying the family. It may be that you need to give a bad report on someone at work. It may be that you must stop all your spending and pay your bills. It may be that you must confront your spouse about the credit card bills. It may be that you suspect your teenage son is using drugs and you must confront him. It may be that your daughter is pregnant and you must walk up her hill with her. Whatever it is, you know what you must do.

Don't let a hill become a mountain. It is easy to do. You can dread climbing your hill so much that you believe it is impossible to climb. You build it up so that there is more dread than climbing. You worry and nothing gets done. It isn't a mountain. It's a hill! Remember that.

Don't let your hill become terminal. A hill looks terminal only because you can't see the other side of the hill. You know there is another side but you simply can't see it. You will once you have topped the hill. You can look back and see what you have climbed. You can look forward to enjoying the results of climbing a hill. There is a better side of the hill but you can't have it until you have climbed to the top. It certainly isn't terminal.

The first step is deciding that you must climb the hill. The next step is starting the climb. The climb is hard and often painful. There is another side. There is release. You do not need to go alone. Give the hill to God and let Him carry you up the hill.

Jesus faced threats of being stoned if He went back to Judea. He had to go back because He knew He must raise Lazarus from the dead. His disciples had made this hill into a mountain. Thomas said that they would all die if they went back. He had made the hill terminal. They couldn't see the other side. They decided to go with Jesus and many people believed because Lazarus was brought back to life.

Just climb the hill in front of you. I assure you there is another side.