It's Too Hard

This is part 3 of my "Excuses, Excuses, Excuses" series, and as you can tell, my excuses have gotten the best of me.  Be assured, though, I now have more motivation to get this series done, as I have other things that I want to confess and talk about and I don't want to interrupt my own thoughts!

So here we go.   Excuse #3:  It's too hard.

Last week, Paul and I were on a getaway trip.  We ventured through the "hill country" of Texas, visiting different caves and cities.  One stop we made was called "Enchanted Rock".   All of the brochures indicated that it was a short hike up the second largest stone mountain in America, and that it was "worth the hike" to see the views.    The lady that sold us our passes into the park said that the hike was like climbing stairs the whole way up.  So, off we went.   As a disclaimer for those who don't know me, I am not in they best shape - in fact, the only shape I'm in is ROUND!  So, any kind of climbing is a feat for me.

As we climbed, we reached a point where the "stairs" ended, and the "trail" was simply the face of the rock that you had to climb.   I tried to quit there, but Paul said "just take a few minutes, then we'll go on".   This happened 2 other times, and then I finally hit my breaking point.   Every joint, every muscle, every thing in me could not go on any further.   So I sat down.  Paul tried his best to encourage me that I could make it to the top, but I just knew that I could not take another step.   So, I sat down, about half way up the mountain, and waited for him to climb to the top.

I sat on a rock near tears as I watched him disappear in the distance.   I wanted to go further, but it was just too hard.   After a few minutes, I heard a faint whisper, "He makes my feet like hinds feet, and sets me in high places".   So, I got up and climbed some more.   I didn't make it all the way to the top, but I made it way farther than I thought I could times three.

All of this got me to thinking, dangerous, I know.   What if we are not meant to do the hard stuff by ourselves?  What if the plan all along was for us to need Him to be strong enough through us, rather than us fighting through ourselves?  What if He's calling us to take just one more step, because He knows that we can make it to the top?   I want to take that step.