RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

A number of years ago, I visited friends in East Germany. They were mountain climbers, and they wanted to show me a beautiful area of their country. They wanted to take me on top of a mountain that had a spectacular view. I said that I would love to go with them, but that I had one major problem. I had a fear of heights.
“No problem, Sammy,” they assured me. “The trail is very safe.”
So, two American friends and I attempted to climb the trail with our German friends. Everything went well until the trail came to an end about 50 meters from the top of the mountain. Then we needed to pull ourselves over rocks and do some real climbing. All of a sudden, something snapped in me. Fear gripped my heart. When that happened, I gripped a rock and held on for life.
Meanwhile, my American and German friends continued to the top not realizing what had happened to me. I could hear them at the top of the mountain saying, “Oh, look how beautiful! Isn’t it spectacular?” Then I heard someone say, “Where’s Sammy?” It was then that they looked down and saw me clinging to a rock like a little baby.
“Come on up, Sammy, it’s safe,” they shouted.
All I could say was, “I can’t move!”
My American friends were so embarrassed. They descended to the place where I was stuck and whispered firmly, “Sammy, get on up the mountain. The Germans will think that all Americans are cowards. So, come on. Right now.” All I could say to my friends was, “I can’t move!”
Finally, the Germans descended and tried to assure me that it was safe, but I just kept repeating, “I can’t move.” They finally decided that we would have to go down the mountain if I couldn’t or wouldn’t go up it.
But I said to them, “You don’t understand. I can’t move.” I couldn’t go up, and I couldn’t go down. I was stuck. Then it began to rain. They said, “You have to go down now, Sammy.”
It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life when they peeled my hands off that rock and carried me down the mountain like a little child. I learned several lessons that day. First, I learned the power of the human emotion of fear. But I also saw how God will work in our lives. There is a safe place when we’re on the dangerous trails of life. He will carry us on those trails to the place of safety.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to seek God’s leadership through prayer. He instructed them to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13 NIV). There are two distinct parts of this principle of prayer. First, we obtain God’s leadership through prayer, and second, we overcome the forces of hell through prayer.
Jesus paints a beautiful picture of a shepherd leading His sheep in this first principle. It’s as though the sheep are on a dangerous mountain path and will fall over the edge unless the shepherd leads them safely. The sheep are pleading for the shepherd’s leadership. The world is like that dangerous path, and we can easily fall over the cliff of temptation. Therefore, we must cry out to God for His leadership. Even as I needed help on that mountain path, we must understand the absolute necessity of God’s leading us through the dangers faced in this world.
We must acknowledge that without Him, we’re left in a terrible situation. We need Him. He will carry you through the dangerous paths of life if you will only trust Him. Call on Him today and let Him lead you.