There’s this place that we pseudo athletic types (and real athletic types too) in Colorado Springs like to go called the “Incline.” It’s the remains of an old roadbed from a scenic railway. It’s not that long of a climb…just a little under a mile of straight climb…actually, it’s got an average grade of a little over 40%, but the steepest section is at a 68% grade. So, when you stand at the bottom and look up, you think how hard can it be? Well, when you realize that you will gain over 2000 ft in elevation in less than a mile…well, lemme just say, it gets your heart pumping!

Bottom of the Incline
So, the other day I “did” the incline and as I was climbing it, I was really seeking God’s wisdom for my life. I was in a mode of climbing in every sense. There were moments where everything in my body was burning from exertion, but I felt like I had to keep going. Since I’ve done this little hike a few times, I know that there’s a false peak that you see from the bottom. I also know that there are people doing this climb for the first time just trying to summit the false peak thinking they’ll reach the top.

Looking down from the false peak
I’ve been on a steady uphill climb in my life for a while now, so often when I’m in the mountains, God really uses those times to show me the life analogy . It hit me hard that day that God allows me to climb each step, sometimes with excruciating pain so that I will appreciate the true peak when I finally reach it. There have been lots of false summits in my life in the past few weeks…actually the past few years. Some of these false peaks have shown up in my life through family, work, finances, personal, even spiritual issues. Along with the false peaks have been false truths. Stuff I’ve told myself, sometimes stuff others have said about me or to me…those things have become the stumbling blocks as I’ve been trying to climb…getting in my way, setting me back, making me question why I’m climbing in the first place. Sometimes I catch myself wishing to get to the false peak so that I can then give up and quit by selling myself short and saying, “well, at least I tried.”
I’m telling you, I’m in a strange place in my life because that last climb showed me so clearly how the false summits and false truths set me back for a time and possibly even for a season, but the reality is that God is still God. The same one who created the mountains is making the way for me by allowing me to take my direction from him one step at a time. People may offer explanation or discounts or even blame, but the reality in my life is that God controls my life. I will make it to the top, I have that assurance because God’s truth will always prevail, and when I get there…the view will be so worth it!

View from the top
“Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.”
Psalm 36:6
“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,”
Psalm 46:2