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The Climb Part Four: Climbing with Faith!
We started a few weeks ago talking about the crisis of faith!
That moment where you have to decide if your life is going to be
in honour of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Faith is an important Christian principle
that is not just the initial crisis moment but an ongoing part of
your life.
The bible says in
2 Cor.5:7 We live by
faith, not by sight.
The Bible defines faith as
HEB 11:1 Now faith is being sure of
what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
And the Bible teaches that without faith we
cannot please God.
Heb 11[6] And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who
comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those
who earnestly seek him.
If we are going to honour God with our lives
we must have faith
Faith means you believe and trust in God as
creator of the world, Jesus as the son of God and Saviour of the
world, and the Holy Spirit as our present guide and comforter in
the world.
But faith isn’t that one time stand up
commitment that starts you on the path, it’s an ongoing need in
your climb with God! In life you will face many things that
will test you faith!
Your faith will determine how committed a
climber you will be! (TRUST)
Strong faith will give you the confidence to
walk with God through any challenge and to face the most difficult
climbs in your life! And the Bible teaches us that this is
what makes us stronger!
JAS 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my
brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, [3] because you
know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
[4] Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature
and complete, not lacking anything.
Other words for faith are trust, confidence,
or even hope!
RO 15:13 May the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may
overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the climb of your life you will face many
difficult decisions, some will require you to reach out for a
small hold that may seem impossible. Sometimes you won’t even be
able to see the next step you need to take but trusting in God is
what gets us through.
If you don’t have faith in your climbing
equipment and faith in your belayer you won’t find yourself
climbing very high or very well.
Allow me to mention that there is a type of
climbing that does not use safety equipment and does not use a
belayer! It’s called “Soloing” and solo climbers just climb up
a rock face without anything to protect them in case of a fall.
In Christianity that’s called trusting in yourself, not in God
and is a terrible and risky way to spend your life.
God has given us a safety system for
climbing and we should use it. It’s common sense.
God is not looking for solo climbers, he is
looking for smart climbers who will trust in him and climb in
the right direction.
Climbing requires you to have faith!
Because the opposite of faith is fear and fear will tire you out
and keep you from climbing to the best of your abilities.
When I go to the climbing gym to train, I
sometimes do what is called bouldering. Bouldering is a
when you climb on the walls but you don't go very high so there
is minimal danger in case of a fall. Instead of moving
vertically you move horizontally called traversing. It's
good practice but done without safety equipment. But in
our gym there is one section that is very hard to go across low
to the ground and it is much easier to go up higher.
However you have to go high enough that a fall is potentially
dangerous.
The fact is that the traverse is relatively
easy, but it is high and somewhat scary. If the traverse
was low I would be able to breeze through it without much
thought, however because of the height and risk I struggle and
usually tire out very fast. The simple difference is fear.
Fear is the enemy of climbing. When we are afraid our body
pumps out adrenalin. I usually find myself straining and
wearing out very fast. I also get slick hands from the
nervous sweating. It's not a good combination.
The point is that when fear enters the
equation my climbing ability is severely lowered and I either
end up falling or quitting before I accomplish my goal.
The Christian climb is not any different. When you find
yourself afraid you will tire easily and lose the drive and
motivation you need to reach the next level in your climb.
Fear is the enemy of climbing!
Climbing with Faith and Without Fear!
1 John 4:17 And
as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be
afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence
because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has
no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid,
it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not
fully experienced his perfect love.
We sometimes use the term "healthy fear".
A healthy fear is one that keeps you from taking an unnecessary
risk. I have a healthy fear of heights so I
don't climb without protection. However there is an
unhealthy fear as well. That is fear that is not necessary
and hinders us from giving our best. It is fear that is
unwarranted and unnecessary.
Unhealthy fear comes from a lack of trust in
God and can happen for any number of reasons. We are going
to explore this unhealthy fear over coming weeks. For now I
want you to consider the need for faith to win out over fear!
We need to build up our faith and battle
against our fears in order to climb at our full potential in the
power of Christ!
In life you will face CRUX moments. The
Crux of a climb is the most difficult part and requires the most
technique, strength and reach. With strong faith you will be
able to navigate the crux moments of your life and use all of your
God given abilities to climb unafraid!
Faith frees us to try!
There are times in climbing when you face the
crux of a climb and the only way to climb on is to commit to it.
Sometimes you have to push yourself to the edge of your abilities
and reach out for a tiny hold and trust it.
When you have faith in God you can reach out
and trust Him in the event of a fall!
That commitment requires a complete and utter
trust in your equipment and your belayer!
Next week: I’m going to ask you to choose a
climbing partner that will support you over the coming weeks as we
study more about climbing for God. Begin praying and thinking
about a Good climbing partner. |
Part 1:
