Written by a close friend and mentor.
In 2002 we lost $1,000,000 on a business venture and my wife and I ended up in more debt than we had ever ‘enjoyed’ previously. What almost destroyed me God used to transform and heal me. It changed my journey with God forever and I began a sacred morning ritual that lasted for many years. Most mornings I would wake up at 5:30 and climb the mountain that was just near our house (in Australia). I would get back home by 7:00 am as the family was rising and we would have breakfast together.
I did this hike each morning for only one simple reason – it was the only way that I knew that would allow me to physically and emotionally get through each day. Some mornings were below freezing and pitch black while others mornings allowed me to view the most spectacular sunrises from the top of the mountain. Some mornings I was angry; some mornings I was broken; and some mornings I was just going through the motions. But on every morning I met with God on that mountain and over the years we became very close friends.
This morning I sat in my chair in my office in Rwanda and confessed to my Friend (and Lord) that I was at a loss. What was I doing dragging my family to Rwanda? What was I meant to be doing here in Rwanda anyway? It just doesn’t make sense I cried out. And God spoke gently and soothingly into my spirit that I was His beloved and that it was alright. He confirmed that I was in the right place and His will. And so I was comforted at a level and reassured. And as I turned on my iPad to read the bible I noticed a new email from my brother Geoff. Surprisingly I was drawn to read his email rather than the bible and in so doing I was completely undone. Even as I write this I am wiping tears from my eyes. Geoff may have typed the words of the email but I know that it was written by my Friend through His Holy Spirit directly for me right at that moment:
In my Wild at Heart group, we just covered the chapter on ‘An Adventure to Live’. John Eldredge shares that he has always had a passion for climbing and his core desire would be to one day to actually climb Mt Everest, and he acknowledges this might never happen. He writes:
“In the past year or so I’ve
made a number of decisions
that make no sense unless
there is a God and I am his friend.What is perhaps the hardest part
is the misunderstanding I live
with from others on a daily basis.
Sometimes the winds howl around me,
other times I fear I will fall.
The other day I was feeling way out
on the end of my rope,
cutting a path across a sheer face of risk.
Out of my heart rose a question:
What are we doing God?‘We are climbing Everest!’ He said”
