What to do When Circumstances Overwhelm You
One of my favorite things about celebrating the Christmas season this year was going skiing with my family and my sister’s family. It was near the end of our first day on the slopes, we were tired, sore and ready to make our last run. My sister who hadn’t been snow boarding in years, my 12 year old daughter and myself who had only been skiing in Colorado twice before were a novice group to say the least, and having never been to Steam Boat before accidently skied right past the lift where we were to meet up with everyone else and right on down to another lift. As we rode the lift up, the snow kept coming heavier and heavier until we could barely make out the lift chair in front of us or the ice covered trees that looked strait out of Narnia. The lift just kept going and going and with the snow haze it felt like we were in a nightmare of the never-ending snow lift.
When we finally got off the lift, we realized we’d accidentally taken it to the very top 10,500 feet, where only the experienced skiers and black diamonds lay before us. In desperation I asked a guy who looked like an expert based on all his great gear choices (I mean what would I know). He pointed down a long path where we could find a blue. After a long horizontal traverse we found the only run open on this side of the mountain. The snow had fallen so heavy and so fast that we couldn’t stay on top of it and we sank and fell in crazy ways adult bodies should not twist, both feet straddled over head, tangled legs, and several face plants. It was so funny to watch each other fall so many times in so many disgraceful ways-until it wasn’t.
We hadn’t seen any other skiers in such a long time, we’d long missed our other crew and the meet up time to shuttle back to our condo, all our phones were dead, the sun was going down and we began to panic that we were lost and would never make our way down. Stuck in snow up to my thighs I spotted a ski patrol and all I could think to do was cry out, “Help” “Help” (a very uncool thing to do while skiing,)
“What do you need?”
Seriously isn’t it obvious, we’re the only ones out here, we’re lost, alone, tired, wet and can’t find our way down this crazy mountain or even stand up long enough to get down. To our dismay he just pointed and said to keep going, we’d eventually make it to the bottom.
Another half hour of no one but us in the deep snow passes, the sun is going down, the temperature is dropping, and snow is continuing to fall. We’re still not sure where we’re at or how to get back. At this point we’re all fighting back thoughts of falling in a drift and not getting out or getting stuck there for the night and freezing to death when we spot another ski patrol sent to make sure this side of the mountain was clear. We all teared up as he informed us all the lower runs were closed and that we’d have to take a mile and half service road back.
During our ski trek surrounded by all those glorious mountains I kept thinking about Psalms 121:1-2, “I lift my eyes to the mountains-where does my help come from? (obviously not from a male ski patrol) My help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth.” The same powerful God that had formed the magnificence of the mighty mountains surrounding me is the same powerful God who desires to help me. The same creative God who made the diversity of these grand mountains, plains, rivers, and oceans has all resources at His disposal to help me. All that power. All that might. That’s where my help comes from, and when I cry for help He always listens. Life can be a lot like that mountain; we can find ourselves over our heads, overwhelmed by the storms and circumstances surrounding us. We can feel lost and unsure of how to find our way; we can look to those who pass by us for help to no avail. When this happens, we need only look up. Look up to the grandeur of the mountains and remind ourselves where our help comes from. The Mighty One who formed this mountain in front of me has the power to throw it into the sea (Mark 11:23). He longs to help us, to rescue us, and to restore us to safety, we need only to ask.
His help on this first night of skiing showed up in the form of three female ski patrol on snow mobiles who gave us a ride down. I wonder where you may feel overwhelmed or like you just keep falling down and don’t think you’ll make it. Let me encourage you to look up to where your help comes from.
2017/01/05 at 11:06 pm