“…He who began a good work in you…

So, how are you spending your summer so far?  Here on the north coast of Ohio we know that our summers quickly turn into autumn, so we try to pack as much in these few months that we can!  I hope you’re able to get out and get away as much as your schedule allows you to, we’ll be stoking the fire place soon enough.  Ann and I are looking forward to what has become an annual pilgrimage up to Watervale, MI. later this month.  We spend a week with family in a sleepy little resort nestled in a sandy cove of Lake Michigan.  We become a combination of beach-bums, explorers, pirates, and card sharks. 

The first summer we were there, we were told that we should explore a sand dune called Old Baldy—a sand dune nearly 350 feet tall.  “Let’s do it!”  What Ann I didn’t realize, was that the trek up Old Baldy was a meandering 2 mile climb up through a primeval forest then ridge after ridge, dune after dune (you know that old saying, ‘two miles forward and 350 ft. up, right?) up to the top.  At first, we were hiking along through a nice sunny meadow, all full of energy. Then we charged up and down sandy ridges in the forest.  But if you've ever climbed a sand dune, you know it gets pretty exhausting pretty fast.  

An hour and a half later, we were huffing and puffing and I could feel our steps slowing down.  The ridges became a little more steep as they turned into dunes.  Up one side, down the next.  We chuckled and wondered if we were losing our enthusiasm.  We were certainly loosing steam.  How much further to the top, How much further to go?  We kept climbing up the twisting turning path in between and up and over sand dunes.  We laughed and pretended that we were Frodo and Samwise climbing up Mt. Doom. (from Lord of the Rings).   The sun was hot and so was the sand as we stopped a minute to rest—and look back down. We needed to look at how far we had come, not just how far we still had to go.

I want to share a word with you about when you're tired of climbing. It could be that you're climbing a pretty steep slope right now.  It's been a long climb—and as you look ahead, you've still got a long way to go…maybe spiritually, maybe emotionally, maybe in getting through a time of great pain or need...maybe in working through some family problems. And right now you're battling some discouragement… some feelings of giving up… some deep weariness. You're discouraged by how much is left to do... the amount of ground you still have to cover. And it may be bringing you to standstill.

I want to encourage you to hang onto this passage from the Word of God.  It's Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  You see, what Jesus starts, Jesus finishes.  He's started something in your life, and He's not about to stop before He finishes it.

You can draw from that promise the courage to take that next step...and to keep going when you feel like quitting.  We finished our climb that day of the great dune conquest.   The closer we got to the top, we could smell the fresh lake breeze, we could hear the waves crashing on shore and when we reached the crest, the view from the top was amazing, not to mention the exhilaration and the satisfaction of knowing we had reached our goal, no matter how hard it was.  We were on top of the world!  Well, at least Old Baldy.  From here it was all down hill, 350 ft. down to Lake Michigan—that is the fun part, if your feet can keep up with you, that is!  What helped us finish may help you finish, too.  Sometimes, if you focus on how far you've got to go, you'll be discouraged.  But you need to look back at where you were before you started climbing—way down at the bottom of that mountain, looking at climbing the whole thing.  Look at how far you've come! Look at how far Jesus has brought you!  The same Lord who brought you from the bottom to this point will take you the rest of the way!

Something else helped us that day we climbed the big dune.  We didn't keep looking at how far we had to go, we concentrated on taking that next step.  God has promised strength for our days, mercies that are new every morning, a cross you pick up one day at a time.  So all you need to do is that next step - don't get all weighed down thinking about all the steps ahead, just the next one.  The Bible says, "The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way" (Psalm 37:23).  You know what else?  We’ve climbed Old Baldy now everyday we have been at Watervale.  I’m not sure it’s gotten any easier, but we are able to really enjoy the journey because we know we’ll eventually get to the top.

Yes, it has been a long climb, and yes, you have a ways to go yet. But look at the work Christ has already done—look at how far He's brought you. Just keep taking that next step. Your Lord has promised to take you all the way to the top!

Getting ready for Old Baldy,