103

I spent last week at youth camp on the campus of Dallas Baptist University. I have never seen a more beautiful college campus. The meeting place for the Bible study I taught and for our church group was down a steep hill. Three times a day I had to walk down that hill down steps. Somewhere on the second day I counted those steps going up and going down. 103.

My legs felt the burn. My lungs screamed for oxygen. My knees started to ache before the end of the week. I often had to get my mind right to climb those steps back to our dorm. The first forty were not that tough as you climbed to a gazebo with benches. I never stopped and sat down there. The last sixty or so steps is where the burn set in. They were steep and not evenly spaced. At times I had to take two steps before reaching the next step.

One day after teaching I walked outside and discovered it was raining. I decided to run up the steps with my backpack. At least that is what I attempted. By the time I got to steps eighty or so my legs burned so badly I was forced to slow down.

What an analogy for life. There are seasons of life when everyday feels like climbing up those steps. Life can be hard. Real hard. There are busy seasons. There are seasons battling injuries and disease. We face the sorrow of death of loved ones. We face crushing defeats and bitter failures. It is an uphill climb.  Day after day and step by step we forge ahead with God's strength and grace.

There are times when we don't feel like climbing. We don't feel like going to work, chasing the kids, volunteering at church, praying and studying the scripture.

Life can be difficult. Uphill. God does not forsake us in those seasons. In fact He strengthens us during those seasons.[Phil 4:13] He enables us to endure, to press on, to persevere, and get to the top. Each day when I reached the top of those steps I rejoiced. That cannot compare to the rejoicing that will take place when I finally climb the last step of this life on planet earth and get to heaven. To live is Christ and to die is gain. [Phil 1:21]

103 is the number of steps I climbed. A total of 12 times I did that at camp. 46 is the number of years I have been alive. Eternity is the number of years I will spend in worship and enjoyment of my Savior in eternity. If I have to climb a few steps to get there it will only make eternity all the more worth it.