A Mountain of Change

Three years ago (I know because I keep a journal) I was praying and heard the Lord say, “You’re climbing Mount Everest.”  Not literally, of course, but figuratively.  Mount Everest?  Wow.  It doesn’t get any higher or harder than that!

From a spiritual standpoint, mountains are usually obstacles that we pray God will remove from our lives, but He said I was climbing this one.  And from a natural standpoint, not many people who’ve climbed Mount Everest over the years have even reached the top, while some have died trying.

So, I decided to do a little research and found out some basic facts about Mount Everest – mainly the following: 

• It’s part of the Himalaya mountain range; straddling the border of Nepal and Tibet.
• It’s 29,035 ft high – the highest mountain in the world.
• Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were first to climb to the summit on May 29, 1953.
• Out of 4,000 who have attempted, only 660 people have successfully climbed it.  
• 142 people have died trying.

So, what was God saying to me?  How did it apply?  After three years of . . . life experience . . . I’ve come to the realization that it wasn’t about the climb, or even about reaching the top and seeing a view that is beyond rare, but it’s about the change it’s made in me . . . for the better. 

This quote by Rene Dumal (an experienced mountaineer and author of “Mountain Analogue”) sums it up pretty perfectly:

“You have to come down from your summit – so why climb in the first place?  Just this:  What is above knows what is below.  But what is below does not know what is above.  One climbs, one sees, one descends.  There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by what one has learned higher up.  When one can no longer see, one can at least know.”

My spiritual Mount Everest climb has brought me to a new place of “knowing”, and I have learned that not every mountain needs to be removed.   Some must be conquered!