Global Courant
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Life is a test. And it can be difficult. You don’t have to live too long to realize that striking truth. But the longer you live, there are times when your path can seem too difficult. Dreams die, conflict erupts, grief overwhelms.
What can you do? Giving up is very tempting. Quitting may seem like the best option. But there is another way.
I recently visited St. Lucia. It is most famous for the Pitons, two mountainous, volcanic plugs that lie on either side of Sugar Beach. Gros Piton and Petit Piton together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site because they are so unique and breathtaking. There is nothing like them in the Caribbean.
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A challenging outdoor activity in St. Lucia is hiking through Gros Piton. We read about the hike online and thought it was long but worth it. We arrived and were assigned a guide for our trip. The guide told us to make sure and have enough water and my wife rented a walking stick.
The challenging beauty of St. Lucia. (Rick McDaniel)
Very early in the walk we could see that it was not as we had been led to believe. The “moderate” first half of the hike was rocky and difficult. It only got worse. Before we were half way through my wife decided to stop. Another woman came down who had also stopped, so they headed back to the starting point together.
I kept going and then it got pretty hard. It was not a hike but a climb on boulders and rocks at an extreme angle. I got to a point where I wanted to stop. I was tired and windy. But I’m not a quitter, so I continued to the top. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as I had hoped.
All I could think about was how to climb all the way back down. The constant pounding on my knees, the risk of falling and the increasing heat were more than challenging. When I finally finished, I was completely exhausted. I needed ice, massage and lots of stretching to recover and not ruin the rest of our trip.
It was one of the toughest physical challenges I’ve experienced. Five hours of climbing, over 2600 feet. It was equal to 160 floors – the tallest building in the world Burj Khalifa in Dubai is 163 floors.
If there’s one thing you can count on in life, it’s that the path won’t always be easy. And sometimes God puts you in situations that seem too hard for you, that you can’t bear. It seems like a completely impossible challenge.
You are perplexed, overwhelmed, even crushed by your circumstances. You can be stretched beyond your capabilities and driven to the point of despair. You want to quit work, run away from marriage, give up the plan.
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You can just choose to complain. It’s too hard, it’s not fair. But if you’re focused on what’s wrong with your life, you won’t see what’s right. And you can’t get through it. You will eventually settle for less than God’s best for your life.
Setbacks break or refine you. Crush or strengthen you. Makes you run away or makes you burrow in. The test is guaranteed. Whether you succeed is up to you.
What can you do? Giving up is very tempting. Quitting may seem like the best option. But there is another way.
As said, “Don’t confuse your path with your destination. Just because it’s stormy right now doesn’t mean you’re not on your way to sunshine.” Pursue goal. Pursue progress. Continue your path.
The wisest choice is to entrust your path to God. It will be worth it. When you follow the path, no matter how hard or difficult, you will arrive at the place God intended for you.
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Your better days, your blessed days, your brightest days are all ahead of you.
The best has yet to come!
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