We are humans. We are people of adventure. Just about all of us can look back to our childhood, when our imagination was endless. We were able to turn monkey bars into vine ropes that swing over lava. The pit of colorful balls we had to swim through became a pool of piranhas, just a setback in our mission to save the damsel in distress. Maybe your childhood adventures aren’t the same as mine, but the fact is we are people of adventure.
It may not be the adrenaline rush of jumping out of an airplane or reaching the summit of a long climb. For some people it’s the simple pleasure of journeying through Hogwarts with Harry and Ron. Or the unfolding of a love story by Nicholas Sparks. We all find our sense of adventure in different places and we pursue that longing for adventure down different paths.
My sense of adventure has led me to the outdoors. It has set me on a path through God’s creation, and in this path I discover Christ in all His beauty. I pursue His heart within His very creation.
My suffering was,
in every step,
leading me closer to indescribable beauty.
I discovered through the challenge of climbing peaks in New Mexico the reward of leaning on Christ through my suffering. Literally grasping and clawing my way to the top, all the while crying out the name of Jesus and recognizing my suffering was nothing. My suffering was, in every step, leading me closer to indescribable beauty.
Carrying my pack through high altitudes the very things that were keeping me alive were also becoming my biggest burdens. I was constantly reminded of the very Cross that Jesus carried up Mount Calvary. I was reminded of the weight and suffering that Jesus carried to bring life. Suddenly that 25-pound backpack seemed like a light load compared to what Jesus carried up to Calvary. In this climb, I came to understand the beauty in suffering.
In pursuing adventure, I was also exposed to the adventure that lies within. The greatest adventure in life is not climbing Everest or jumping out of a plane. The most thrilling journey man will ever embark on takes place within himself. It lies in venturing into prayer, allowing Christ into the depths of your very heart. In this journey, Christ can so beautifully reveal to you the deepest desire of your heart, the desire that has been there all along. The desire for Him.