Recently I was blessed with what is often called a “mountaintop experience.” I received an all clear from the doctors, and I was floating on a strong current of thankfulness and joy. I wished I could spend all my days there.

I will some day, in heaven, in God’s glorious presence.

But what preceded that mountain top? A really hard journey, with pitons and guy ropes and scrambling up steep cliffs. I had to pound steel pins into my faith and trust they would hold. And when I occasionally slipped and fell into gloom, the guy ropes which held me firmly (the Holy Spirit) stopped my slide and gave me a way to climb back into the light. I scrambled, trusted, and accepted the hard climb as a part of my life’s journey.

And that brought me to the mountain top.

And the mountain top experience gave me strength, joy, stability, and the experience to know that I wasn’t ever alone. My climb with seen and abetted by the same God who met me on the mountain. He is in the deep forests, the rolling foothills, the rocky cliffs… And He tells me, “Keep climbing. I’ll always be with you.”

And I’m off with my forever escort on my next hike.

Thanks to Becca Stevens, author of “Love Heals.” Also thanks to her publisher, Faith Gateway, who published a devotional based on her book that inspired my thinking today.