Take Hold

Many years ago I decided to walk up Scafell Pike for the first time, as I happened to find myself so close, unplanned. The weather was not good and visibility very poor by the time I got to around 800m. So far so good, but then the cairns I had been following, which marked the ‘path’, seemed to lead me down not up! I checked my map. Unfortunately, the precise section of the map I needed was torn and not easily readable. I looked around and the ground seemed to rise to my right. All other directions seemed down, so I started to clamber up some rocks, away from the cairns, and reached what I thought was the top. Strangely, no-one was there and no-one joined me all the time I rested and ate lunch! Oh well, this must be it, I thought! After a while, I clambered down again to re-join the ‘path’, and then the cloud briefly cleared! There was the peak, towering above me, a short distance on the other side of a steep ravine, which had to be crossed to make the final ascent, down then up! The cairns took me all the way. I should have stayed on the path and followed the cairns.

We can often stop short of all God has for us and rely on or own ‘logic’, giving into fears or doubts, rather than exercise faith. (We had a similar message this last Sunday – remember the horse and the saddle? Are we trying to lead the horse or are we getting in the saddle?)

Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is full of encouragement. It is remarkable to think that Paul wrote this letter whilst in captivity, with no immediate hope of release and freedom. Yet his hope is that he will be free, but if not, he will realise the wonderful hope of heaven. Even as he is captive, his burning desire is to encourage his readers (in Philippi and us!) to keep going, move forward, press on, always. Don’t compromise and don’t miss out on all God has for you through the work of His Spirit within us daily.

Nehemiah had a responsible and steady job in a privileged position, yet when he heard about the plight of Jerusalem, he was challenged to ‘press on’, ‘take the risk’. He knew God was calling him to leave his comfort zone and get stuck in, a thousand miles away from his home, with all the uncertainty and risk that entailed humanly speaking, not to mention the almost immediate opposition. Not forgetting of course that to start with, he had to approach the king for permission to go in the first place, and that was no easy task and could cost him his life! But he had heard from God; God had moved his heart; God was calling him to step out into the unknown.

We might also think of Abraham. He must have been quite comfortable in Mesopotamia, but his calling was actually to Canaan. There is a mystery here about how God touched his heart or what was so irresistible about what he ‘heard’, that he risked everything (and everyone) to fulfil the calling and follow God into the unknown and uncertain, with God’s promise in His heart. It must have been a daunting prospect to ‘up-sticks’ and make the long and arduous journey, not really knowing where he would end up.

Gideon hid in a winepress, but God called him a ‘mighty warrior’ and commissioned him to save the people of Israel - the least of his clan, an unknown, called by God to do the seemingly impossible. He took some convincing, but he did actually go… and the rest, as they say, is history.

But what if Nehemiah, Abraham, and Gideon, to name but three, had just stayed put? They might have organised a prayer meeting about the situation but stayed ‘safe’ without taking the risk themselves, humanly speaking. The answer to the question is that God would have used someone else, His plan never fails. But the three saints of old would have missed out on all God had for them personally.

Now unless you tell me otherwise, I suspect that you and I have not been called to such monumental tasks as these three men (and there are many more examples!). Yet we are all encouraged by Paul in this passage to ‘press on’ and ‘take hold’. The trouble is we often would rather keep our feet on the ground, and not get ‘carried away’.

Paul encourages us to seek all that God has for us. Not 30%, not 50%, not 80%, ALL! It is an exciting thought that we were chosen by Him to be His and serve Him. Why would we not want to give our all? The reason is so often that we either do not trust Him enough, have a far smaller understanding of who God is than the bible gives us, or we are simply too attached to how things are and would rather stay ‘in control’.

I don’t think Paul is encouraging us to deliberately seek the dangerous and drastic! He simply encourages us to have a mindset that says: ‘Lord, may your will be done not mine, wherever you want me, please show me, and send me with your blessing’.

For each one of us, that will be a different calling – to a friend in need, a neighbour, a stranger we bump into, a new area of support in the church. Let us also not forget that different seasons of life bring different callings and changes of emphasis and direction in our lives.

Like Paul, can we truly and consciously desire not to dwell on the past, but ‘strain’ towards what is ahead? That means putting in the effort of seeking God’s will through prayer and His word and the wise counsel of trusted believers.

Paul was not satisfied with anything less than pressing on to the goal, giving his all for Jesus all the way to the line…

… because he knew, and we know too, that Jesus gave everything for us!