Just a Little Bit at a Time

Over the last few weeks the bags under my eyes seem to have grown somewhat.

This has to do with a certain little bike race they run during July every year in France. You may have heard of it, The tour De France.

For 21 days or so the worlds best cyclists ride around France. On average they will cover 150 to 200 kilometres a day, day after day after day. Sure they get rest days; 2 of them in 21 days. and as if riding 200 kilometres in a day isn't bad enough, there are some stages of the race where not only do they cover 200 kilometres but they also have to climb up huge mountains, mountains that are over 1500 metres high!!!

On Wednesday night I stayed up until after 2:30 AM to watch one of the most famous mountain stages of the Tour De France. this stage had 3 mountain climbs in it with some down hill sections where riders reached speeds in excess of 80km/h!!! But this wasn't the bit that I was really looking forward to, I was hanging out for the last climb, the climb up the mountain known as L'Alp d'Huez. this climb is only 14 km long, but goes up a staggering 1650 metres in that 14km!!!!

As I watched this stage and cheered on Aussie cyclist Cadel Evans, I thought about how hard mentally is must be to climb a mountain like that.

Imagine standing at the bottom looking up at the road ahead, the 21 switchback turns, the steep gradient, the final destination, and realising how tired your legs are now and how much further you still have to go!!!

As I though about this I remembered an article I read about how elite cyclists overcome this psychological obstacle. According to the cyclist who wrote the article they very rarely look to the very top of the mountain, the look to the next check point ( a corner, a tree, a post, whatever marks a smaller distance) every so often, but mostly they focus on the 5 or so metres in front of their wheel. They just keep looking at the next 5 metres and then the next 5 metres after that, and then the next 5 metres after that and so on and so forth, looking up at the goal posts they have set along the way and occasionally glancing at the final destination.

As I thought about this I thought about my journey with God and realised that there were some similarities there with climbing a mountain.

I wonder if sometimes God gives us a view of the top, the final destination, but understands that if we were to focus on this to much we would psych ourselves out and give up. So instead God shows us goal posts, things to aim for that are closer and more achievable in shorter times, and then asks us to focus on the next little bit, and then the next little bit after that and so on until we reach the goal and then re-set for the next goal.

As I look back over my life I can see times where God has revealed big plans to me, but then has shown me ways to reach them. I can also see other times where I have just been focusing on the next step, and then the next step after that, and then having looked back have seen how far I have travelled and seen what God has done in my life.

I guess my prayer for you this week is that God will reveal the next step to you and lead you to it, that He will help you to cover the ground in front of you and that you will keep going.

The hill may seem steep and high and a long way off, but God will get you there if that is where he wants you to be. Your task at the moment is to be obedient and just keep moving.

Remember the destination is important, but how you make the journey there counts too.

The Dead Sea

Recently, while i was travelling around the division, someone asked me why they call the Dead Sea the Dead Sea. For the life of me i can't remember who it was though, so if you're reading this post, and it was you who asked me the question, here is the answer:

After some discussion with others and a quick check of that encyclopedia that has info on just about everything, Wikepedia, it turns out that the Dead Sea has an incredibly high salinity level, approximately 30% making it the second most salty body of water and almost impossible for life to exist in it's waters. The shores of the Dead Sea are the lowest place on the planet not covered by water or ice at 418 metres below sea level. The Dead Sea is also the terminus for several rivers, the most significant being the Jordan River. The Dead Sea does not flow out to any thing, it is the final destination for the water from the rivers and their tributaries.

Coincidentally, while in a meeting yesterday i heard the dead sea used in an interesting analogy. We were talking about the role of the church, and how in some places the church is much like the Dead Sea. Some churches appear to be the final resting place for much activity. People come to church, come to faith and come to do nothing in the church. It appears there is a mentality that once you are a member of the church there is no further need for activity. It was suggested to those of us gathered that, perhaps, instead of our churches being like the Dead Sea, our churches should be like a spring or catchment area instead. That instead of the church being the final destination, the church should act like a catchment that collects water and focuses it and sends it out to the sea/ocean. The new people we see coming to our churches are like the rain, sent from God, which the church collects and channels into doing things. And as these people are sent into the world we see change coming, areas once barren and dry are reinvigorated with new life, life is given and change occurs.

It's an interesting thought isn't it.

It's amazing what happens when a thought process is changed.