~ written by Connie Dunmyer
I like to hike, especially in the mountains. I’ve hiked mountains in Colorado, California, Kauai, the Big Island, upstate New York, Oregon, Washington and South Dakota. The higher I go, the more encouraged and strengthened I become. But inevitably, before that encouragement comes, there’s a “fainting” point. Not actual fainting – but becoming so tired that I really want to turn around and go back down.
There was one time we were hiking up a mountain at Loveland Pass, Colorado. We had hiked up several hundred feet and all I saw was how big the climb was yet before me. I remember bending over, gasping for what little oxygen was left at that altitude. I called out to my husband to come back to me because I was going to quit.
Coming back to me, he saw what I did not. He asked what was wrong and I said I couldn’t make it. I wanted to go back down the mountain.
Dana: “Are you sure? Have you seen the view?”
Me: “View? What view?” All I could see was the mountain before me and my tired, trudging feet.
Dana: “Look!” And he stood me up and turned me around. And there it was! The tops of mountain ranges. I could not see it all yet. I could only get “a peak” (peek) of the view. But I knew that if I kept going to the top, it was going to be amazing!
All of a sudden, I was energized. More energized than when I even first started my hike. Like the Grinch, my “heart grew 3 sizes” and I found the “strength of ten grinches plus two”! In fact, I had to force myself to slow down so I wouldn’t over do it in the low oxygen elevation. At the top I was not disappointed. The amazing vastness of mountain range upon mountain range – for miles and miles. It was breathtaking (in a good way!)
2 Corinthians 4:1 “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.”
As is my practice, when I read a “therefore”, I like to remind myself what it is “there for”. So I go back to chapter 3 verse 18: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
The “therefore” is the REASON “we do not lose heart”. And the reason is because we have the Spirit AND we are “being transformed”. Not just any transformation. But transformed into the likeness of Jesus. And it is ever-increasing! Thus, with this knowledge, with this PROMISE, “we do not lose heart”.
King James Version says “we faint not”. So like an arduous hike, we may get to the point of “fainting”. But either God will give us “a peak” (peek) at what is to come, or He reminds us through scripture that we are being transformed into Jesus by His mercies. And we “faint not”. We keep going, step by step.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible uses the word “undaunted”. Undaunted means not discouraged, intimidated, or frightened by danger, difficulty, or failure. The mountain exists. It is real. It is a frightful thing. Even dangerous at times. In reality, failure is sometimes an option. But to be undaunted… not discouraged, not intimidated… in the face of that reality, can ONLY COME from the Spirit. From the mercy of God.
You and I may say to ourselves “My problem isn’t with ministry. My problem is with my spouse, my health, my wayward child, my job, my finances, my whatever.” May I suggest that each of those, and any other ‘fill-in-the-blank’ IS a ministry. It is your ministry. It is my ministry.
As believers, we are ministers. If you only see 3 people a day, that is your congregation (even if it’s all your family). If you have a job where you deal with the public (first of all, God bless you most sincerely)… But if you have a job where you touch the public on an hourly or daily basis, you have a very large congregation. If you are bed-ridden and see no one for long stretches, you may have the largest congregation of all. For prayer is also ministry. Prayer for whoever comes to mind… prayer for nations… prayer for the hurting… prayer for the sinner… prayer for the furtherance of the Gospel.
Regardless of where our Sovereign Father has placed us, we are being ever-increasingly transformed into Jesus, and thus are ministers for Him and by Him.
Today when I hike, and I get to the point of “fainting”, instead of bending over, I stand up and look around. I don’t want to miss what may be around me. And I want to be reminded of just how far I’ve come.
When I’m discouraged and the pressures have sucked all the air out of my life… when my heart has been broken and pulverized to dust… even when I have lost heart, when I have been daunted, or have even fainted for a while… I will stand up again.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then,… Ephesians 6:13-14
I stand and look around. In fact, it’s good to look around. It’s so easy to get siloed, to see only my feet, my problems, my life.
It’s good to look around at others and to be reminded just how blessed I am. To find a way to minister to the people God has put in my path… be they many or few.
It’s also good to see the view, the promises of God. I cannot see nor understand the full depth of those promises quite yet. But if I keep walking, keep hiking, keep smiling, keep enduring, I will one day see the View of all Views. Each step, a step of His mercy.
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