"But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill" Psalm 3:3-4 ESV.
I choose to run--not because I want to--because I need to. It's the most time- efficient way I've found to burn calories.
I live in the Piedmont Region of the Carolinas. Rock Hill is my current home, so my course involves inclines.
As I ran up that long hill in my neighborhood for the fourth time, I considered stopping. It was hard. My mantra has always been "three miles or it doesn't count." Recently most of my runs fell short. I wanted this one to count, so I continued.
I set my sights on the summit. The tree-topped hills were beautiful. Tiered to display their array, set against a brilliant blue backdrop, the trees flaunted their flaming foliage. I was tempted to just park myself at the bottom and gaze up at them. However, few calories get burned when I rest on my haunches.
I thought about my current journey with God. It's pretty much uphill these days. I've lived in three different states in three years. In the midst of the moves, I cared for my husband through surgeries and cancer treatments, welcomed children back into my once empty nest, and bid farewell to my earthly father.
Some days I'm tempted to quit.
It occurred to me the same principle of choice applies in my spiritual journey. I can be content to gaze upward, or accept God's invitation to journey with Him. I don't want to settle for gazing at Him. I want to be with Him. I decided to continue to travel this road--even when it's uphill--because He travels with me.
So I stood and started taking steps.
It is during our uphill journeys that our eyes naturally incline toward heaven.
