Lighten Up!

There is nothing like old friends.  Last week, I had the chance to reconnect with a friend whom I had not seen in decades.  We enjoyed catching up on details of our families and life events, and shared lots of laughs reminiscing on old times.  One particular event was the source of hilarity – at my expense! 

As a newly engaged young woman, I joined a group of friends for a backpacking trip to North Manitou Island in northern Michigan.  My friend, an experienced hiker and backpacker, organized and led the group.  I remember the packing list, her instructions, and her confidence that everyone would be up for this challenge that would be worth every drop of sweat.

That was my first overnight outdoor adventure.  Not only had I never been wilderness camping, but no one taking a first look at me would ever judge me as “outdoorsy.”  Evidently, my transition from high school athlete to working young adult was complete, as the polish on my nails and hairspray on my “do” could attest.  And, you should also know that my frugal nature was evident in my gear.  My boots were borrowed from my sister -- and two sizes too large, my sleeping bag was dug up from my parents’ basement, and my clothing was scraped together from the bottom of my dresser.

We laughed as we remembered how ridiculous I looked with that heavy sleeping bag swinging into the back of my legs with every step, and how I rubbed blisters on my feet in record time.  Furthermore, she came clean and told me how amazed she was that I made the trip, hiked all the miles, and smiled through it all. 

It was a very different experience from the seven days my husband and I spent hiking up Mt. Kilimanjaro two years ago.  For this trip, we maintained a healthy fear of the task before us and gathered our gear and supplies with extreme discretion.  The summit, at 19,341 feet in elevation, necessitated proper footwear, state-of-the-art gear, lightweight layers, and countless squats and lunges!  We weighed our packs, adjusted the contents, and readjusted to lighten our load.  There was no way I could make it with a huge sleeping bag swinging from my pack this time.

The day we summited was more difficult than we imagined.  We were going on very little sleep as the altitude wreaked its havoc day after day, and our morning wake-up came at 11:45 pm!  We geared up, switched on our headlamps, and were on the trail by 12:30 am.  As we inched ourselves up toward the summit, the oxygen dissipated into nothing.  My trail guide offered many times to carry my day pack, but I stubbornly declined.  About a half-mile from the summit, however, I reluctantly handed over my pack and ultimately made it to the peak as the sun was rising.

These two experiences provide an extreme contrast and attest to something I heard another friend say: “The higher you go, the less you can carry.”  Though I had prepared carefully and thoroughly, I am not sure I would have made it to the summit had I not passed off my pack.  The climb was exhausting, consuming all my physical strength and mental fortitude.  Letting go of those last few pounds made the difference between success and failure, between perseverance and defeat.

The apostle Paul must have understood how important it is to lighten our load when he wrote this:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).

The race we are called to run, with all its mountains and valleys, cannot be completed if we insist on carrying excess weight.  We must let go of the anger, bitterness, sinful behavior, and unbelief that drag us down and slow our pace.  Gearing up with the fruit of the Spirit, walking in love toward others, with our eyes fixed on Jesus, is the only way to successfully complete our journey (Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 5:2, Hebrews 12:2).

I hope you will receive this admonition and reminder today to lighten your load.  Let go, drop, and throw off those thoughts, behaviors, and desires that are nothing but dead weight.  If we want to climb higher, we cannot take that junk with us.  And just like my faithful and attentive trail guide, we have a Savior who is willing and able to carry every burden for us (1 Peter 5:7, Matthew 11:28).  There is no sense in struggling when He stands ready to bear all our worries, cares, hurts, and even our sins.