“Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast.” Psalm 36:5–6
This summer, my father and I travelled to Washington State in the north-western part of the United States to climb Mt. Rainier, the tallest glacier-covered mountain in the continental United States. It stands at 14,410 feet tall. This was going to be an exciting challenge for us.
We were to climb in a group with two other climbers and two guides. We all had different levels of experience in climbing mountains. It is just like in our local churches where there are members who have been in the church for a long time and have made many experiences in their Christian walk, while there are others who are newer in the faith and have had less experience in their Christian walk. Yet, we must all learn to work together in unity if we hope to reach our desired goal.
Our journey began when we all met in a little town called Ashford, near the base of the mountain. We tried to get some rest as we had an amazing adventure ahead of us.
The next morning, we started our journey. We drove up to a place called Paradise, where we were able to see many beautiful trees and plants that you would not see at lower elevations. Then we saw the mountain—Mt. Rainier. It looked beautiful; all around us God’s nature looked so beautiful. It was a blessing, from the beginning of our climb to the end, to be out in nature and away from all the man-made inventions and distractions.
On our journey up the mountain we encountered many difficulties. From the very beginning of our journey, my father and I felt like the character, Christian, in the book Pilgrim’s Progress, as we were both carrying heavy loads on our backs. We knew that this was going to be a memorable experience. On our first day we started off in a forested area. Then as we went higher, the trees began to thin out and then came smaller bushes and shrubs. Higher up all the vegetation disappeared and we began to walk on snow.
Once on the snow we took time for a lesson by the guides, in learning how to use one of the tools that we would need as we continued further on our journey. This tool was the ice axe, which would be needed in the steeper parts of the mountain. In our Christian life also, we need to use different tools; for example, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, to teach us what we need to do in different situations.
After eight hours of climbing we made it to our first camp where we would spend the night. It had been a tiring day. Once at our camp, turning around to look behind us, we could see where we had come from; we were able to see all the mountains around us, and how beautiful the nature was that surrounded us.
The higher we got up the mountain the more we had to help each other doing tasks. My father and I worked together to prepare for our stay at the camp. My father would start by melting snow and ice for drinking water and for cooking our food, while I would set up the tent. As in our Christian life, it is not possible to do everything ourselves; we need to help each other. In our church family we need to work together to achieve various goals; for example, helping the local church to grow or opening up a missionary outreach in a new area. It would not be possible for one person to do it all.
As we progressed up the mountain our packs became a little lighter since we were eating the food that we brought with us on our climb. The higher up the mountain we got, we more we needed to use the tools that we had brought with us on our journey. These tools included crampons, ropes, harnesses, and helmets. Different equipment was needed to achieve each stage of our goal.
The following day we climbed higher to yet another camp where we spent the night. That night it was hard for me to sleep because I was so excited, knowing that the top of the mountain was so close. Our goal was almost in reach!
Early in the morning, just after midnight and well before the sun was out in the sky, we began our climb to the summit. This section of the mountain was more treacherous than the rest. Before we started, our guide told us that we needed to trust him and do exactly what he said; then we would safely reach our goal, to climb to the top of the mountain. That climb to the top was one of the hardest I have experienced. The wind was so strong, that the force of it could blow us off the mountain; the path also was not clear, which made it very difficult to see where we had to walk.
In our Christian life today we are so close to our goal. We are so close to our summit, our heavenly home. We can almost see our goal, which is Heaven; but that is when Satan tries to attack us the most. He tries to discourage us and cause us to turn back before we reach our goal.
After seven hours of climbing through the entire night, my father and I made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier, at 14,410 feet. We had achieved our goal! We had listened to our guide, followed what he told us, and we were victorious!
It is my wish and prayer that we will listen to our Heavenly guide, Jesus Christ—to listen to what He says and to do what He wants us to do. We must obey Him, no matter how Satan tries to discourage us and tries to make us turn around and go back down the mountain. We must never give up and turn back, despite how difficult and scary things may become. May we all press forward and, one day, reach the summit of the mountain in heavenly Canaan, and also be able to stand on Mount Zion with the rest of the saints.