It's worth it

I spent this weekend in Bozeman, Montana. It's a little college town nestled on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. I've never been to Bozeman before, and I wanted to look around a little bit so I strapped on my running shoes and hit the streets. On the second day I was there, I took a right on Main Street and headed toward the mountains on the edge of town. At one point the road started climbing. As I struggled up the hill, the wind started gusting into my face. With this and the fact that Bozeman sits around 5,000 feet above sea level, it was tough going (Oh, did I mention the 17 degree temps?). I planning on running a total of 4 miles and the 2 mile point was a stop sign @ the top of the hill I was climbing. I really wanted to stop early, but I kept pushing forward. When I reached it, I stopped and turned around. I couldn't believe my eyes. Streched out before me was the entire mountain range to the west of Bozeman. The view was spectacular!

The walking with Jesus can often seem like that uphill struggle. It's as if the world has arrayed its forces against us and we're going nowhere fast. In those moments we realize we can't do this on our own. In fact, we were never designed to. But when we tap into Christ's limitless strength we can continue on to the goal. Rely on Him, keep moving forward and remember, it's through the struggle that something beautiful is produced.