Posted on July 7, 2015.
There I stood at 13,307 feet after hiking in ski boots with my skis on my back for 45 minutes. When I first looked at the mountain it didn’t look so intimidating, but now, standing on the peak I couldn’t help but think how fast my life could be over if I took one wrong step.
I had a friend say one time, “I have seen and spoken with a few people who seem to be confused when they say that they like ‘adventure.’ Let us set the record straight on this one:
‘One of the inescapable encumbrances of leading an interesting life is that there have to be moments when you almost lose it. Adventure requires major elements of risk.’
The air is thinner at 13,307 feet. Your brain doesn’t get as much oxygen as it needs and the views will actually take your breath away. All of this, plus the fact I was with two people I love and adore got my adrenaline pumping. There I was putting my skis on and mentally preparing myself to drop in North Pole. I’ve dreamed of back-country skiing, climbing 14ers and skiing down them, but if I couldn’t do this there was no way I could be a back-country skier – the true test. “I can do this! What’s the worst that could happen, it isn’t that steep..” are all thoughts that go through my head in that moment. Air rushes quickly over the saddle back, and I realize it’s time to go. I seemingly float down the peak on top of some of the best powder we have had all season. The moment can’t pass without me stopping and really taking into consideration the glory of God. I look out into the stunning Rocky Mountain Range and find myself dumbfounded.
I am having a kairos moment. Kairos is the Greek word meaning, ‘the time of possibility’ – moments in our day, our week, our month, our year or our lifetime that define us. To me this word is those moments in my life where time seems to stop. You stand still and are more aware of your surroundings, what the Spirit is doing, and what the Lord is saying.
I am sure it’s the feeling Bilbo, the dwarves, and Gandalf get as they go “over those great tall mountains with lonely peaks and valleys where no king ruled” (The Hobbit). They stand looking at the lonely mountain and there is a question they ask themselves, “is the risk worth the reward?” But this is the question we ask ourselves daily in light of eternity. Is it worth risking our lives, partaking in the glory of God for the moment, for a lifetime of knowing God? So, as I stood there looking out into the glorious mountainous abyss, I had a moment – a kairos moment. A moment when the Lord said to me so clearly, “is this worth it? Do you want to climb mountains for your glory (to tell people you did it) or for my glory? Do you want to live a life of reckless abandonment and risk to know me deeper and greater? Do you want to stand on top of a 14,000 foot mountain next to a non-believer and tell them about the One who created everything they can see?”
Yes! A thousand times yes! Sometimes God calls us to do things we don’t want to do. Sometimes He calls us to do things we want so badly to do. But EVERY TIME He calls us to adventure – risk – and to glorify His name in the process.
No foot treads casually through realms untrodden. You pace forward with your face seeking God on paths untrodden knowing He is worth the risk every step requires.