Looking to God not the Thorn

I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. Psalm 25:2-3 NIV

What comes to mind when you are at the top of the highest mountain on earth? I have no idea, and I am never going to find out, but 63-year-old American Eva Steinwald did last year. She climbed the 29,031 ft, 8 ½ in. Mount Everest, a sub-range of the Himalayas. It was not her goal to become the oldest American woman to summit Mount Everest, but she was, at least for a few days, until another American woman took the title at 66.

Why climb?  Her motivation to climb was part of her healing journey after her husband of 26 years died unexpectedly. Steinwald’s first climb was Mount Borah, the highest summit in Idaho.  “It was like a fire in my belly, because I felt alive and I knew that’s what I wanted, and it was a way to honor my husband.” (KTVB7 Idaho interview)

Steinwald said the push to the Mount Everest summit was challenging, but she was determined. “We saw dead bodies along the way, so you realize how serious this mountain is. It can be deadly.”

“Take time to mourn, but then step forward, because the only time we have is right now. We don’t have what we had yesterday; we don’t know what we will have tomorrow. We all have our Everests; whatever your Everest is- if it’s getting your college degree or going back to school, or running a 5k. Whatever it is, believe in your dream. Don’t listen to naysayers; believe in your heart. Baby steps, little goals, and you can get there. I give myself grace; you need to give yourself grace, too.” She said she wants to inspire others to conquer their own Mount Everest.

Steinwald’s mantra on her mountain climbs, as well as life, is “One breath. One step. Just don’t stop.” Her goal, by the time she reaches 70, is to have climbed all seven summits, which are the highest mountain for each of the seven continents.

What is your Mount Everest moment in life? How do you get over your mountain of loss, disappointment, or tragedy? Does it feel as if God has forgotten you?

Ms. Steinwald had guides to help her navigate the treacherous paths to the summit. Who better to guide us on our own epic journeys than Paul? He was an apostle, missionary, writer, teacher, and committed follower of Jesus who understood what it felt like to climb mountains.

Paul had an impressive record of the hardships he endured. “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea…I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” (2 Cor. 11:23b-25,27).

We may not particularly enjoy some of the difficult seasons, but through God’s grace we find a way. However, Paul’s greatest help for us comes in those areas where we are totally lost and in confusion. The clouds have rolled in, and we cannot see ahead. Those are the areas where God seems absent or where we cannot hear. Paul offers us help from his own story when, three times, he asked God to remove a mysterious “thorn in his flesh.”

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”  (2 Cor 12:7b-9.)

Whether three times or fifty times, we come to realize that God does not always answer our prayers the way we asked. The “thorn” continues to fester within us. However, what we do learn is that we can trust God to help us live and even thrive with the thorn. Paul came to accept the no as what was best for him. “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:10). Can I always accept the no as what is best for me?

What we think of God when things are in chaos, whether physical or spiritual, reveals much about what we truly know of God’s character. It is in the darkest periods of our lives that we reveal our true understanding of God. What we can know is that God welcomes our repeated prayers yet gently reminds us that his “grace is sufficient.”

“His purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child—God and my own soul; other people are shadows…Is the relationship between myself and God getting simpler than ever it has been? There is a connection between the strange providences of God and what we know of Him, and we have to learn to interpret the mysteries of life in the light of our knowledge of God. Unless we can look the darkest, blackest fact full in the face without damaging God’s character, we do not yet know Him.” (Oswald Chambers)

Lord, thank you that you invite me to cast my burdens on you. I give you the things that are weighing on my mind today. I ask you to take them from my hands, but if not, let me live totally in your grace, which is sufficient for today.

God is great!

Prayer Safari: A weekly devotion to offer encouragement, hope, and purpose found in Jesus