I just spent four delightful days with my mother in Wyoming—eating a flaky quiche at Lander Bakery, ordering a new skirt from QVC and wandering unhurried through Hello the House, which is one of those surprisingly amazing stores tucked into the quiet main street of a town of 7,000.
But the sweet time ended, and Matt and I arrived back to Real Life after a 12-hour drive.
There was a moment in the kitchen when I contemplated hyperventilating over the week to come. Not only was I heading back to school, but it was also my week to teach the large group times in Awana, and the next night, I was hosting a ladies’ get-together.
And then there was the fact that we had binge-watched HGTV at my mom’s, so I also felt like I should redecorate my entire house.
But maybe that could wait.
Back to the idea of hyperventilating. I looked at the mountainous week to come and thought, No way. Not even possible. So there was the option of full-blown panic, total hopelessness and shoulder-scrunching anxiety—you know, the usual.
Or.
I could look to God as “Magnificent Sherpa,” and I say that with reverence.
When I think of the Sherpa, I picture people who are acclimated to the extreme climate, altitude and rigorous climbs of some of the highest mountains in the world—people who know the way and can get you to the summit, while helping you carry your load.
So hey, I chose option B. Choosing one of my larger Post-it notes, I wrote down the impossible to-do list. Sticking it to my calendar, I confessed to the Lord my feelings of weakness and inability to pull off all of those activities. Then I told God I was completely trusting Him to help me conquer the impossible.
A miracle happened after that: I went to bed and slept like a baby for eight hours.
When I woke up the next morning at 5:15, I rolled up my sleeves and started plugging away at all that needed to be done. No anxiety. No hyperventilating. For sure, I dropped into bed exhausted at the end of the day, but it’s not so bad to take on a steep climb if you have hope of planting your flag at the summit.
King David sings these words to the Lord: “With your help I can advance against a troop, with my God I can scale a wall” (Ps. 18:29, NIV).
Don’t you think, more often than not, the coming week feels nearly impossible? But soak in the repeated phrase in David’s psalm:
With you I can.
With you I can.
So I pray for you today that you will die to your own self-sufficiency and turn your to-do list over to the strong shoulders of the Lord. May you be filled with hope that, with God’s help, you can scale whatever wall stands in front of you.
