Life Plan Devotion #56 [Mountains]

I'll be honest. I don't like trials or mountains or bumps in the road of life. For some reason, I think life should be easy for me in the present and future, I guess because life in the past was so hard. I have an aversion to pain and difficulty, but I must come to terms with the fact that life is hard sometimes.
I know that many of my readers are going through difficult times. I hear you, and I feel your pain. I want you to know, though, that while God never promises that we won't go through hard times, "The Lord has promised that he will not leave us or desert us" (Hebrews 13:5, CEV). As you're trudging up your personal mountain, how you view it will make all the difference.
You might wish that your mountain was smooth, but if it was smooth, you wouldn't be able to climb it. There are rocky places along the way, but it's up to you whether you view them as stumbling blocks or stepping stones. It's all in how you look at your mountain, as something to be dreaded or something to be conquered.

James 1:2-4 [Amplified]
"Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking nothing."

What this has to do with weight loss: I was talking to my life coach last week, and I was complaining about this weight-loss journey being "so hard." He likened it to the hard work of climbing a mountain. You get about halfway up the mountain, and because you're tired and sore and your breathing's a bit labored, you begin to entertain thoughts of turning around, of quitting. You begin the back and forth thoughts of "Quit" and "Keep going," and that banter continues for the remainder of the climb. But then you reach the summit, and it feels so wonderful, because you know you kept going despite the difficulties. My friends, let's keep going...no matter what. Let's keep the summit in view, and if we do, we will be victorious.

Prayer for Today:
"Heavenly Father, You know I'm going through a trial today, and it's hard for me to 'consider it wholly joyful.' Help me to see it as You see it, a way to prove my faith and bring out endurance, steadfastness, and patience in me. I want to be 'perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking nothing,' and if this mountain is the only way to make that happen, then give me the grace to climb it. I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen."

Go forth today, and be a mountain climber.