Turning Crawling into Climbing, Part 2

The Power to Prevail: Turning Your Adversities into Advantages
by David Foster

(Page 2 of 2)

Climbers See Life as an Adventure to Be Enjoyed

Climbers live with an undiminished and unabated capacity for curiosity. They see life as an adventure to be enjoyed, not as a long series of indignities to be endured. As Søren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth-century Danish philosopher, put it, "If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible."

Climbers waste no time riding or beating dead horses. They opt for the thrill of taming and riding bucking broncos.

Climbers See Life as a Mountain to Be Conquered

Let's return to our fellow climber Caleb and fast-forward in his life forty-five years. He is now eighty-five. He has outlived all his peers except Joshua. He has earned the right to take it easy-but Caleb is a true climber. He sees life as a mountain to be conquered.

Surely Caleb has had enough excitement for two lifetimes! He has seen Egyptian bonds break, the Red Sea part, water flow from a rock, manna fall from heaven, and the death of all his friends, other than Joshua, as they dropped one-by-one through unbelief. A climber at heart, Caleb has both witnessed and participated in the nation's triumphal entry into the Promised Land. And now, at age eighty-five, he is one of the first to choose where he wants to live out the rest of his life. And what would a climber choose? Another mountain, of course! He told Joshua,

I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.

(JOSH. 14:11-12 NIV)

Here was an old man who had outlived all his peers-and he requested only one last mountain to climb. Caleb knew that we all need something worth doing to give our life meaning.

Like Caleb, I want to be a life-changing, soul-feeding, spirit-lifting force during my brief time here. I want to shape my world, not merely be shaped by it. Daily I pray, "Lord, wake me up before I die," not "If I should die before I wake . . ." Climbers refuse to spend their lives being normal or doing business as usual. They strain and strive for the chance to change the world for good, for God, and forever.

It was Ovid, the first-century poet, who said, "Happy is he who dares courageously to defend what he loves."

Many important events in the Bible took place on or near mountains. God called Moses to lead his people out of bondage on Mount Horeb. After the Exodus, God commanded Moses to gather the people at Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Moses died and was buried on Mount Nebo. Elijah, one of Israel's greatest prophets, defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.

Much of the life and ministry of Jesus took place on mountains. Satan tempted him on a mountain (Matt. 4:8). We call Jesus' most famous teaching session "the Sermon on the Mount" (Matt. 5-7). Jesus repeatedly went up a mountain to pray (Luke 6:12). He enjoyed his transfiguration on a mountain (Matt. 17:1-8). And at the end, his enemies crucified him at a place called Mount Calvary.

The Bible also uses the term "mountain" as a symbol of stability (Ps. 30:7). Mountains represent places where God shows his power (Ps. 121:1-2), sometimes through their flattening. In Isaiah 40:4 God promises, "Every mountain and hill [shall be] made low."

If you're a climber, you need an appropriate mountain to climb. You won't feel satisfied with anything less. Psychologist Abraham Maslow discovered the same truth when he said, "If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life."

THREE THINGS ALL CLIMBERS NEED

Climbers never revert to crawling and coasting just because life gets hard. You'll never hear a climber sit around and whine about how unfair life is or how bad she has it. Climbers are champions at heart. They are winners, not whiners. They respond to life, not react to it. And all of them have at least three things in common.

All Climbers Need a Climber's Perspective

Climbers know that life can get hard and dangerous without a moment's notice. Things seldom go as planned. But climbers have this perspective: if God still reigns in heaven, and his love still flows toward them, and they remain in his care, they need only to climb on.

Climbers think differently from others. They know that at their center, at the core of their being, rings out the call to ascend. And how do you know whether you have a climber's perspective? Suppose I were to ask a writer why he writes. I will get one of three answers. If he has a crawler's perspective, he will say, "I write for recognition." If he has a coaster's perspective, he will say, "I write for the money." If he has a climber's perspective, he will say, "I write because I must."

A climber climbs because that's what he is. To be who he is, he must do what he does-climb. If you labor only for recognition, there will never be recognition enough. If you live for money, there will never be money enough. But if you write or paint or build or teach or any other of a thousand things because you must in order to be who God made you to be, then you have discovered the secret of living for an audience of one. And climbing for his pleasure is enough.

The climber's perspective can be summed up in two words: "Climb on." While climbers accept that they seldom control their environment or their circumstances, they exercise the power to choose their attitude and reactions to what happens to them and so climb on. Climbers climb in the cold and they climb in the heat. They climb when it's steep and even when there seems to be no way. Why? Because they know that climbing is what God created them to do. And if God wants me to climb, they think, he will make a way. So they climb on!

Fellow climber, climb on when you seem to be climbing alone. Climb on when you can't see your way ahead. Climb on when all you see behind are gullies and ditches and all you see ahead are cliffs and threatening overhangs. Climb on, though the path seems uncertain. Climb on, knowing that just around the next turn God may be waiting with a breakthrough. Climb on, because life is too precious to waste on coasting or crawling.

Stand up on your two good feet, face the summit, and ascend with the conviction that the one who loved you enough to place you on that mountain, loves you still. He promises you the power to climb: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (Phil. 4:13 NIV). He pledges to protect you while you climb: "I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip-he who watches over you will not slumber" (Ps. 121:1-3 NIV). And he guarantees you that on your climb, "no temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1 Cor. 10:13 NIV).

Climb on!

Climbers Need the Right Mountains

You won't find a climber sniffing around a molehill or playing in a mud hole. Climbers recognize that the difference between molehills and mountains comes not in their degree of difficulty, but in their significance.

Climbers don't look for easy going, but they must know that their efforts are worth the sacrifice. As fully alive human beings, they understand that life is not about getting more and bigger stuff. Climbers have the ability to admire without the need to acquire. They look for something way beyond success. They want significance.

The wildly successful 1987 album Joshua Tree, by the Irish supergroup U2, features a single titled, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The song cries out for significance. One of its lines says, "I have climbed the highest mountains, I have run through the fields, . . . but I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

This could be the cry of our generation.

When I climb, I want a mountain that's significant. And how do I recognize significance? For one, getting to the summit will make a difference in the lives of others. I don't want to struggle up a mountain that shows no promise of positively impacting men and women. Climbers know that the "more stuff" mountain, or the "bigger car" mountain, or the "nicer house" mountain, or even the "corner office" mountain, just isn't worth a big chunk of their lives. They refuse to fight their way to the summit of a mountain unworthy of the climb.

Naturally, climbers get discouraged like everyone else. They get tired, bruised, bored, and, at times, they break down. How do they keep going? By remembering that they are climbing toward a summit that, once reached, will make all the pain and sacrifice well worth the effort.

Remember this: if it doesn't love something, lift something, build something, appreciate something, and bring God pleasure, it is nothing but a molehill, a heap of mud, or a pile of manure. On the other hand, mountains worth climbing are made of pure gold.

Climbers Need the Right Climbing Companions

In his best-selling book Good to Great, Jim Collins claims that it's more important to have the right people in your life or organization than to have a compelling vision and direction.

The good to great leaders understood three simple truths. First, if you begin with "who," rather than "what," you can more easily adapt to a changing world. If people join the bus primarily because of where it is going, what happens if you get ten miles down the road and you need to change direction? You've got a problem. But if people are on the bus because of who else is on the bus, then it's much easier to change direction: "Hey, I got on this bus because of who else is on it; if we need to change direction to be more successful, fine with me."

Second, if you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away. The right people don't need to be tightly managed or fired up; they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great.

Third, if you have the wrong people, it doesn't matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won't have great company. Great vision without great people is irrelevant.3

I want climbing companions. Do you know what climbing companions do? They encourage you at the right moment. They do exactly what you need, when you need it. And they're careful not to criticize you brutally, because they're on the same climb. They know it's hard.

As a climber, I need the right people on "my bus." The biblical axiom "Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character'" (1 Cor. 15:33 NIV) remains true. You will mirror the behavior of the dominant personalities around you. If you hang around a bunch of negative, whining people, you will become a negative, whining person. But if you stick close to faith-filled, hope-filled climbers, you'll also become faith-filled and hope-filled.

CREATED FOR ADVANCE

You are a natural-born climber. And all climbers know that adversity is not a choice.

Your lifetime will present you with plenty of excuses to settle for crawling and coasting, but God has given you two very special gifts. You have a climbing gear in your heart, and a desire for high and noble achievement in your spirit. You were not created for retreat, but advance. You have the power to prevail against all odds as you learn to turn your adversities into advantages by using your God-given power of choice. You are a powerful person, and with God's help, you can build something beautiful out of the ashes of any adversity.

Climbers know that character develops, not in the calm of base camp, but in the howling winds of adversity. Under normal conditions, you might be good, but you'll never be great. Good times and pleasant conditions do not demand that you draw from the deep well of virtue and character. Character gives the power to choose a virtuous course of action under adverse circumstances-and that power to choose the right path under fire represents the highest form of human control.

Sure, you'll encounter many opportunities to quit and camp. When you go through hell, it's possible to stop and smell the smoke. In fact, you can become an expert on smoke and all its devastating effects. You can play the role of victim and blame circumstances, people, or even God. There are as many plausible reasons for fear and failure as there are people in the world and days in our lives. But that's not what you were made for-and deep down in your heart, you know it.

You can't escape the desire to climb something, conquer something, achieve something, win something, endure something, and in the end, plant your own victory flag on the summit of a life well spent. Life is too short and the stakes are too high for you to settle for constant excuse making and blame-placing.

The choice is yours, always yours alone. And that choice is your power. It cannot be handed off to someone else. It cannot be reserved for another day. You have the power to change your life. And that power begins by making a choice that leads to an attitude.

With the right attitude and God's help, you can learn to turn grief into gladness, fear into faith, can'ts into cans, jealousy into joy, regrets into resolve, and grief into gladness. Remember the immortal words of wisdom from Homer, the eighth-century B.C. Greek poet: "'Tis man's to fight, but heaven's to give success." And hear the words of Patricia Neal, an Oscar-winning actress, who observed while struggling to recover from a debilitating stroke, "A strong, positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug."

Why do some people find a way to prevail and conquer, while others collapse? God gave you a very special gift at birth-a climbing gear. He gave it to you because you will need it. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33 NIV).

Adversity is not optional. When it comes to you, as it most surely will, you can take comfort that at least you're not alone in your struggle. It is the fact of adversity and hardship that makes the invitation of Jesus so amazing: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden," he said, "and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28 KJV).

God stands ready to make sense of the senseless and return power to the powerless. And not only does he give us victory over our adversities, he uses them to make us stronger and better. God gave us a climbing gear and an ascending spirit so that we can reach the summit of our potential, that place toward which we journey all our lives.

Copyright © 2003 by David Foster All rights reserved

About the Author

Dr. David Foster is founder and senior pastor of Bellevue Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He is known as a true street-smart communicator who uses humor and simple illustrations to help seker find God. He and his wife live in Nashville with their three daughters.