God's Coaching #58

God's Coaching #58

Lhakpa Ri may be the easiest 23,000-foot mountain in the world to climb. But that’s like saying tigers are the gentlest of the big cats to wrestle. You can still easily get bitten.

Yet in 2004, Erik Weihenmayer thought Lhakpa Ri was the perfect place to lead a group of six blind Tibetan teenagers on their first mountain-climbing expedition. Oh, and you’ve heard the expression “the blind leading the blind”? Erik was blind too. But that hadn’t stopped him from climbing some of the world’s tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, which is Lhakpa Ri’s neighbor. Blind people were treated as outcasts in Tibet. One of the young climbers had been sold as a slave by his parents. He later escaped and lived on the streets. Erik’s goal was to give these kids an opportunity to build their confidence and achieve something great.

Each blind climber had a sighted escort and would hold on to his or her guide’s trekking pole or backpack or listen to a bell. Each guide gave lots of verbal instructions, too, to help the teens avoid rocks or holes on the rugged terrain. The climbers could tell they were extremely high by the sound of falling rock. The negative 30-degree temperatures reminded them, too. The group didn’t reach the top of Lhakpa Ri, but they did make it to Everest’s Advanced Base Camp. At 21,000 feet, it was the highest altitude ever reached by blind teens or kids.

What’s the Score?

Talk about faith. The Tibetan teens trusted their lives to their guides and leaders in a hostile environment that was tough climbing even for people who could see. That’s the kind of faith God wants us to have. The Bible describes it this way: “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1).

We can’t see God, but we can trust him. We can’t tell what will happen in the future, but we can trust that what God promised will be true. Until then, we can listen for God’s guidance and keep climbing even when we can’t see the way. One day we’ll see it all clearly. For now we need to trust like our lives depend on it . . . which they do.

On the Ball

Make a list of things you know are real even though you can’t see them. Here’s a freebie to get you started: gravity.

Coach’s Comment

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1