It used to be that you could ride your motorcycle all over the hills near our home in Alta Loma, CA — there weren’t any houses!
Back in the mid-70s, my brother Dave and I were hill climbing with our dirt bikes. We came to a very daunting hill — and Dave shot up to the top, turned around, then shouted down to me, “No problem man. I made it!”
Have you ever been hill climbing? It can be terrifying. Going up is bad enough; coming back down is even worse! Well, I reluctantly moved my bike into position, knowing I had a choice to make: I could sit there, revving my engine (hoping I’d run out of gas!), wallowing in fear and intimidation because of the enormous obstacle in front of me, OR I could listen to Dave, believe him, and go for it. I decided to take on the hill — and I made it!
In the same way, the difficulties, losses, pressures, intimidation of this world cannot cause us to fear and fail if we’ll look up to Jesus because He’s already reached the top. He’s paved the way. He’s saying, “No problem. I’ve made it. Come on up!”
True, we must climb the hill — and yours might be a long one — but Jesus is at your side and will get you where He’s already been!
I need to relate an especially important factor to successful hill-climbing: Your bike must have enough gas in the tank if you expect to make it all the way to the top! The Christian’s “fuel” is the Holy Spirit and His use of Scripture. Get a handful of Bible verses that apply to your struggle, memorize them, and quote them often, especially when you’re starting to “sputter” up the hill.