Our family just enjoyed an incredible few days in the mountains of Summit County Colorado.  It was a much needed break as we skied, snowmobiled, and took in the beauty of the Rocky Mountains.  My muscles are in knots, but my heart is invigorated.

My oldest son and I love the challenge of skiing.  Actually, I ski; he has crossed over to the dark side of the snowboarders.  During one of our afternoons, we found this run called ‘Too Much’.  It was a black diamond slope that tempted us with these beautiful moguls.  For those of you who don’t ski, moguls are these large three foot tall bumps that cover the more difficult routes.  ‘Black’ runs are considered the most difficult, although if you feel particularly brave, they do offer double blacks.

At any rate, Caleb and I love this type of terrain, and so off we went.  Bump after bump, turn after turn.  It was a breathtaking slope and we loved it … for the first 15 minutes.  But it kept going and going.  There was no place to take a break, no flat smooth sections to relax and catch a breath.  Bump after bump, everyone mercilessly punishing our quads, calves, backs, and shoulders.  Every new mogul demanding our lungs beg for more oxygen, which happens to be in rather short supply at twelve thousand feet.
And then it dawns on me:  that’s why they named it ‘too much’.  It was too much, too much of a good thing.  Too long, too many bumps, and no place to rest. 

Our enemy frequently uses the same strategy.  He just keeps throwing bumps in the way.  At first they don’t always seem that challenging.  I even take some satisfaction from riding many of them out.  Yet, they keep coming, and rest seems so elusive.  Our spiritual muscles become fatigued; our lungs, oxygen starved for that breath of life that we so need.
 
Now here’s the crux though, so often those of us at the top of the hill who haven’t taken the run yet, hear our friends crying for help, struggling to go on, and our response is that ‘it’s just a bump, go on’.  What we miss is that they have been riding the ‘bumps’ all day, with no end in sight.  It’s not the bump, it’s the unrelenting nature of them.  I think this is why God has such compassion for us.  He understands the nature of our struggles.  We look at the individual and encourage them to just get over it.   He looks at us and understands how long we have been fighting.  And so He speaks to the Church of Philadelphia and proclaims, ‘I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.’ (Rev 3:8).

Yes, they are just bumps.  It’s what we do with them that makes the difference.

Caleb and I made it to the end of ‘too much’.  It was too much, but it was also just right.  We knew that we had accomplished a great feat.  Like the Philadelphian Christians, we too had persevered and we began looking for the next run.


To the King,

David