Soul Scientist

musings from a soil scientist who dearly loves Jesus and the amazing world under her feet

More on mountains

By

Beth Madison

·

4–6 minutes
Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels.com

Psalm 46:1-2 CEB. God is our refuge and strength, a help always near in times of great trouble. That’s why we won’t be afraid when the world falls apart, when the mountains crumble into the center of the sea.  

Even though I don’t expect the mountains on my family farm to crumble into the sea anytime soon, I can’t say the same for my resolve in remaining faithful in the face of the reality of many more days of pain like this one. Yet I know that my Good God is working good from all of this day and its mountain of pain. And He will do the same with the next, just as He’s done countless times before in my life and others who have come before me. I trust Him to do the same working for good in the lives of those coming alongside and after me – to keep forming a legacy of faith that brings hope for the now and not-yet.

Scripture teaches me of such faith by many whose names I know and those I don’t (see Hebrews chapter 11). Whether or not I know their names, I know their faith as evidenced by their stories in storms and sieges, fire and flood, lions and legions, and other circumstances I never want to experience. Their reality was the God-Rock in the middle of their lives equipping them to overcome the mountains of fear and failure with a humility found only in the humanity of Christ (see Philippians 2:5-11). They knew the truth of hope in and from Christ. Holding fast to this truth set them free to live as mountain climbers every day (see John 8:32).

Most mountain climbers have their own style of climbing. Thus, different styles make for different ways to go up a mountain. Oftentimes, if you know a climber’s style, you can pick out the climber on the mountain as he climbs. The same holds true for us in how we traverse suffering. For example, I have two friends with similar disabilities who spend much of their time in wheelchairs. However, the differences in how they approach life are vast. One friend fixates on being helpless in (self) pity while the other focuses on Jesus as hopeful with pain. The first friend sees her mountain as unscalable and has given up. Yet the other finds new ways for service and inspires many to climb their own mountains via prayer, persistence, and patience. Needless to say, I am trying to model my climbing style on my second friend’s choices and without my first friend’s circumspection. Also, I’m learning that every step is crucial in climbing. Just as that next misstep can mean death for a literal mountain climber, the next step towards sin and selfishness for me can mean death to my example in someone else’s life. As someone once said, “you’re always being watched by somebody”, this principle is magnified in suffering. Even if we might feel alone, we are seen by others as we choose to climb whatever mountain is before us in the grief, pain, and loss. We may not think our lives worthy of inspiration in the hard daily choices of trusting God in the pain, but others do. Our stories will either point others to Jesus and joy or to ourselves and arrogance and self-pity. I want my story to show Jesus, not me. And if you’ve made it this far in the book and up your mountain, I think you want the same…

As Christians, we are not freestyle mountain climbers without ropes or climbing apparatus, no matter how big or small the mountain is or seems. Holy armor and heavenly angels are always available to us (see Ephesians 6:1-10 and Psalm 91:11). As importantly, we will never climb alone. We have: the Holy Spirit living in us; Jesus interceding for us; and God remaining with us (see John 14:26, Romans 8:34, and Hebrews 6:18). And the hope from all of this along with power of God working on our behalf equips us for whatever landforms lie between us and obedience to our God-Rock’s plan for us today (see 1 Corinthians 10:13) today. Only hope can sustain us through traversing whatever landforms which linger past today into tomorrow and onwards towards heaven…

Hebrews 6:17-19 GNT To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us.We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary.

Please share with us about someone who inspires you to climb mountains in your life. His or her story might be the very tool that helps someone scale that next cliff today. As always, thank you, for how your life inspires others to keep climbing their mountains!

This was another excerpt from the Nevertheless: Finding hope in suffering project. Stay tuned here to the blog for information about what’s coming with the project.

If you’d like to read part 1 of this excerpt, here’s the link:

https://soulscientistblog.com/2023/06/21/mountains/

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written by and copyrighted to Beth Madison, Ph.D., 2023.

5 responses to “More on mountains”

  1. Stephen Fratello Avatar
    Stephen Fratello

    So, your two friends who are disabled…I know that you didn’t mean to be insensitive as most of the world doesn’t, but they are. Your friend who allegedly looks at life with “self-pity” as you put it, might be dealing with depression or a deep heartbreak, as those of us with disabilities often grieve many times over about what we wish we could do. I would encourage you to reflect on the ways that you might be harsh with yourself, judging yourself as maybe lazy or full of self-pity. We tend to project our hatred of our own limitations onto others.

    July is disability awareness month. We (advocates) spend the month educating people about disabilities, chronic illnesses and health challenges, often times in an attempt to combat what your other friend, that you admire, looks like. They call it “inspiration porn.” Society likes to take a disabled person – a visibly disabled person if possible and show how they climb mountains and compete in marathons and volunteer 5 days a week encouraging others to “just get over” their disability and get out there and be an inspiration. Everyone loves that kind of story. The problem is that those people are the exception and make everyone else feel like shit because they are not capable of doing that.

    There is nothing wrong with accepting limitations, grieving, and feeling frustrated. It means you’re human. Living with a disability is enormously hard in today’s western culture. I’d encourage you to have more compassion for your friend who you feel sits in self-pity and consider how you might understand where they are coming from.

    Peace to you, Stephen

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    1. Beth Madison Avatar
      Beth Madison

      Thank you, Stephen, for taking the time and effort to share this with me. You’re right – it was never my intention to be insensitive, thank you for recognizing that. Thank you for being a patient advocate and standing up for those in need like Scripture repeatedly tells us to do – keep up the good work!
      Something you might not realize since this post was an excerpt is the backstory about my friend and me. Without any questioning or comments or such from me, my friend repeatedly tells me that she doesn’t do what the doctor advises her to do – to get up and walk or stand. She chooses the wheelchair because she says she doesn’t have the self-discipline to do the work of walking (her own words). There is no physical limitation keeping her from walking (including not having pain in walking). Yes, depression has most likely led to this but again, she refuses any admission of needing or wanting help in that way either. She mentors me in the desperate need to never give up in my daily challenges of chronic illnesses which require mobility aids most days for me to walk – be it a cane, walker, electric scooter, or wheelchair. Despite the best treatments available, my body is declining in strength and function which requires even more determination to keep getting out of bed and doing the hard work of every day obedience in things which others take for granted, like walking.
      God is so good to keep providing and sustaining on all days, especially those where the pain is crushing. Again, thank you for speaking up – may God keep giving you grace to keep moving forward in His plan for good for you!

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      1. Stephen Fratello Avatar
        Stephen Fratello

        I’m sorry to hear about your friend and also about your own personal struggles. You’re right in that I do not know your friend or her medical history. I was just taking it as face value as someone reading this who doesn’t really know the situation it might come off as being hurtful, I hope and pray your friend finds her strength to do whatever she needs to do to get better or to at least live life a little easier. I don’t understand the psychological workings of some people. I just know that chronic illness, as you probably know, can really take its toll on you mentally. Thank you for your prayers and prayers back at you for you. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Beth Madison Avatar
        Beth Madison

        Thank you so much, Stephen – grateful for you and your prayers and encouragement!

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      3. Stephen Fratello Avatar
        Stephen Fratello

        Thank you. Likewise. 🙂

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