Do Something Hard

I remember the day I sat on a mountain in Southern Peru looking over Chumpi, a small village at about eleven thousand feet altitude in the Andes Mountains.  As part of a vision team from Old Fort we were considering the opportunity to adopt this village and two others nearby in order to share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ.  At that time there was little if any evangelical work going on in that area.  We had spent one full day on a plane and two full days in a truck driving through some pretty treacherous mountains just to get there.  The accommodations were rustic and primitive. The cold nights and high altitude were more difficult to handle than any of us had imagined.  In short, ministering in these villages was certainly going to be…in a word…hard. 

As I sat there looking over the village and seeking God’s leadership as to whether or not to commit our church to such a difficult assignment, I struggled with the enormity of the task.  I thought about the costs of each trip, the risks involved in all the travel, the language barrier, the frustration of only being able to be among the people a couple times per year and of course, the possibility of failure.  Without a doubt, the struggle was as big as the mountain upon which I sat. 

Then, in a moment, my focus changed and I was able to look past the mountain of difficulty and see the people walking the streets of Chumpi.  Literally I began to focus on the people.  From my perch, I could see the main square and started noticing the people walking to and fro throughout the town.  I thought of the attitude of Jesus in Mark 6:34 “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  So he began teaching them.”    I realized then and there that the hardest thing I had been asked to do was not to go to the mountains of Peru but rather to have compassion (love) for those who lived there.  My prayer at that point was simple, “Father, teach me to love these people.” 

From that moment on, I never again worried about the logistics of the ministry that made it seem difficult.  For the next seven years, I tried to focus on the people who lived in those mountains and knew that we were given the privilege to visit with them in order to show them the love of God.  Many of them came to know Jesus Christ, friendships were established, churches were planted and most of all, our God was glorified.  Looking back, it wasn’t nearly as hard as I had first imagined it to be.  In the mountains of Southern Peru, I saw the miraculous work of God in so many ways.  I’m glad we decided to do something hard.

So, this is my challenge to each of you as you read this blog at the beginning of 2014.  Do something hard.  Do something this year that will only be possible by the power of God.  Say “yes” to the Holy Spirit and then let Him work a miracle in your life.  Step out in faith and do it.  You’ll see; the mountain is no problem for our God.  Thanks for reading.