Climbing Higher

I was reminded again this morning and in the quiet hours of the night before, how truly unworthy I am. How slow I am to progress, how inadequate I would be as a helpmeet, how unprepared to train and educate little ones.

I could be content to be in the state I am in ~ but I am not. Why settle for less when you can have more? It would be a denial of my God to do only that which was easy, which was natural, which suited my tastes.

My journey ~ not just in these things but in all areas of life ~ might be compared to rock-climbing (not that I have ever engaged in rock-climbing, but I have watched it). As I climb up the cliff, I am often tempted ~ and often persuaded ~ to stay and rest awhile on a ledge, where life is easy. It's not a bad place. I'm not regressing. Yet I need to climb higher, and still higher, rather than stay in the same secure place.


I think of the the hymn "Higher Ground":

I'm pressing on the upward way,

New heights I'm gaining every day.

If only I were gaining new heights every day! Too often I lounge on a ledge and soothe my conscience that I am not where I used to be and that I am in a good place. I fear the climb. It's too hard. I'm tired. What if I fall? It's better to stay here than to risk a back-set. May I have the courage to climb higher.

May I always be at peace, but never content.


Words of "Higher Ground" by Johnson Oatman, Jr.