I’m a mountain guy. When I was a kid, my parents took our family everywhere from the Canadian Rockies to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming to at least two trips to Colorado. In fact, that’s where I did my first hikes in the Colorado Rockies, including my failed attempt at Long’s Peak, a demanding 14er, when I was eleven years old.
In fact, that experience led to coming back some thirty years later and summiting Long’s with our son Tim and then doing nine total 14er summits over the years with Tim, Amy, Jackie and friends. I’ve even done some technical (with ropes, other gear) climbing, but I’m no pro or expert.
However, I regularly read about and follow climbers who are some of the best in the world and can only dream of doing anything close to what they do. But that’s not going to happen and it’s okay.
One of those experts is a climber named Ed Viesturs. His climbing is legendary and would take too much time to even come close to covering in this vlog. However, perhaps his most amazing feat is climbing the 14 highest peaks in the world without supplemental oxygen. Yes, I’m not kidding, he did them all without any extra oxygen breathed through a mask from an oxygen canister as many climbers at very high altitudes typically do.
He also wrote about his accomplishments in a book entitled, No Shortcuts To The Top. And his book clearly illustrates that trying to cut corners on something as potentially dangerous and thrilling as climbing a big mountain is dangerous and can even be fatal. It’s important to listen to experts like Ed Viesturs who definitely know best.
But the no shortcuts principle applies even more importantly to our journey with God as Christ followers. A powerful example is found in Exodus 13. The children of Israel have made their God-empowered escape from Egypt and they’re on their way with God’s continued direction to the Promised Land.
However, there’s a seemingly odd next step in Exodus 13:17. “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.” Hmm. God took them a longer way. Why? Well the rest of the chapter and more in later ones explains that God’s “detour” was actually for their protection.
God was in a sense saying, “Shortcuts to the Promised Land aren’t wise either.” And I don’t know what your personal, family or organizational journey involves, but I want to remind you and me that as we begin 2025 that we too trust God’s ways and direction over our own even when they’re not logical.
In fact, there are several ways God may take us that He knows are best, safest, what we can handle and for our best overall. For example, God may also not only takes us a longer way, but might lead us on the little at a time or step by step way. In Deuteronomy 7, the Israelites were very concerned about the nations they were going to be up against as they moved into the Promised Land.
But in 7:22 is says, “The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little.” Wait a minute. Couldn’t God have just killed them all on the spot? Yep. But the next few verses tell us that if He did, wild animals would come out of the hills and mountains to feast on the bodies and the people would also be in danger.
So little by little was better.
Related to the little by little way is the revealing a little of the answer at a time way. By that I mean that God starts to give us the solution but we don’t get the whole answer at the same time. For example, you or someone you know and love gets ill. And soon you begin to see improvement, but aren’t sure how things are going to continue from there.
Psalm 119:130 says, “The unfolding of your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple.” Sometimes God only shares with us what we can handle at the time. He unfolds the answer but it will take time to get the rest.
And then there’s the blurry way. We do see God’s answer or direction, but we still don’t quite know the whole story and begin to realize that maybe we won’t get all the answers until Heaven. I Corinthians 13:12 says, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.”
I know I have some questions that seeing that God has been in a decision or situation, perhaps resolved it, I still don’t get the whole picture. I’ll get that someday and so will you.
So, are you wondering about the way or direction God’s been leading or perhaps even seems silent about? Is He seemingly taking the longer way or the step by step way or the unfolding/revealing way or the blurry way. Trust Him to get you or your family where you need to be, to have the best outcome, to be protected from something worse even though you can’t see it now.
Because remember, there are No Shortcuts To The Top but your guide will never leave you or forsake you either. The view from the top is worth it.
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