Look for the Footholds

Clinging to the side of rock wall in the driving rain.  You are afraid to move either foot or either hand because you can't see anything.  When you started this climb, while dangerous, the weather wasn't too bad.  Now powerful winds and soaking rain threatens to throw you off this climb.  Why?!  You want to scream because isn't it enough that you were faced with the climb to begin with?  Now you have to climb this mountain with rain and winds?!?  So you continue to cling, hoping that something changes soon.  You lean your forehead against the rocky wall, crying out. . . .


So many times, life feels just like this, clinging for dear life onto anything you can reach.  Fingers aching, legs burning because you aren't sure how much longer you can hold on. . . when suddenly, looking down, you feel an overwhelming peace settle over you.  A foothold.  You move because that foothold is secure, strong and safe.  Then looking up from your new foothold, you see a hand hold you previously missed.  One hand, one foot then the other . . .and you realize you are moving again.  You must keeping looking for the next step, keep moving up.  Survival depends upon it.


Sometimes, in the trials of life, those footholds and hand holds come from unexpected places, they come packaged in small gifts, sometimes unrecognized.  It could be that peace that settles over you that you can't comprehend or a good night's sleep despite your surroundings.  Maybe it's a meal brought to you by someone also fighting a fight of faith but they wanted to bless someone else.  It could be simply a visit from someone who cares, they may not know what to say, but they are there, standing with you.  A financial blessing that gets you through a rough patch or a card of encouragement in the mail.  The Word of God is full of footholds, scriptures that give you just enough strength to get through the day and then you go back the next day for more.  You know, daily bread; the key with that one is you must pick up the Word and read it.  Prayer and praise are the more obvious ones.  Footholds.


The thing is, you have to look for the footholds, and most of the time we miss them.  We are looking for the giant, shiny, rainbow miracle, the one where we are just lifted to the top of the cliff, skipping the climb all together.  When all along all those so-called small blessings are ignored as insignificant when really they are part of the miracle, a part of the climb, a big chunk of the testimony.  They make up the body of the miracle.


I'm not saying that the giant, shiny, rainbow miracle won't come; I'm simply saying that when you are clinging to a cliff, desperately hoping to be rescued, don't miss the daily blessings that are your footholds to scaling your rock wall to the top.  Rain and trials will come your way, sometimes you just got climb that thing and trust God through it.  The struggle isn't the trial, struggling infers that you actually climbing through that trial.  Sitting at the bottom of the rock wall crying about it is not the struggle, dig deep and climb that thing.  Don't miss the blessings {the footholds and hand holds}, that come your way because you are looking for something spectacular and they make the climb possible, even bearable.  It's the daily blessings that teach us how to rely on a very capable God. . . . .

. . . . then you look around and realize you are in the midst of a miracle.