Mt. Lafayette<\/a> is, by any Pacific Northwest standards, just a hill, topping off at a mere 5,249 feet. \u00a0It\u2019s beautiful in it\u2019s own right, but only a hill. \u00a0Still, the hike to to the summit is an exercise in endurance because most of the hike is shrouded in forest, save the few openings where one is able to see some remarkable granite walls (next time I\u2019m bringing climbing gear). \u00a0The cocktail of steep sections, wet rocks, and warm air thick with humidity makes the journey a little boring. \u00a0Without the distractions of great views, the negative elements of sweat and bugs seem magnified, and I find myself asking, \u201cWhy<\/em> am I doing this?\u201d every 30 minutes or so. \u00a0As we near the delightful AMC hut, the trees thin out, and we enjoy the views.<\/p>\n We rest for a few minutes, and then ponder our next moves. \u00a0Reports say a storm is coming, but the summit is in clear view, just below the clouds. \u00a0My wife\u2019s had enough but I tell that I can\u2019t see something so close, so doable, and not continue the journey to the top. \u00a0So I leave my pack with her and travel ultralight to the summit, where I snap a few pics, before enjoying a theological conversation all the way back to the hut with a Jewish mystic who works for ATT by day, but whose passion is teaching meditation. \u00a0It was a delightful hike, and I was glad I summited because the journey revealed the relationship between seeing and endurance. \u00a0Had the top been shrouded in fog I, not knowing the area or the terrain, would have turned for home. \u00a0Seeing, it turns out, is mighty important.<\/p>\n Jesus said<\/a>, \u201cblessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear\u201d because here\u2019s the truth of it: \u00a0without seeing where we\u2019re going, we\u2019ll quit \u2013 all of us will. \u00a0I saw the top and knew I had<\/em> to be there (it can be a dangerous addiction, these summits, but that\u2019s for another post). \u00a0The marathoner sees, with his mind\u2019s eye, the finish line. \u00a0The visionary sees a great search engine,<\/a> or the notion that people can maintain friendships<\/a> online. \u00a0The young married couple see themselves walking, hand in hand, around the lake by their house long after their \u201cnot yet born\u201d children have grown. \u00a0There\u2019s always vision: \u00a0that\u2019s the way of it! \u00a0And vision is nothing more than the capacity to keep seeing!<\/p>\n So here are some principles about seeing, enduring, and how they\u2019re related.<\/p>\n 1. We\u2019ll all need endurance.<\/strong> \u00a0It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s climbing a little hill like Lafayette, or a real mountain like Rainier<\/a>, the fact is that step one is always<\/strong><\/em> easier than step 8,423. \u00a0New commitment to Christ: easy. \u00a0Wedding day: Cake (literally). \u00a0It\u2019s discipleship, marriage, continuing to show up for the long haul, for the seemingly boring Tuesdays of life, that enflame disillusionment. \u00a0We all feel like quitting some days. \u00a0What keeps us going, though, is the same for the mountaineer, as the married man, as the person walking with Jesus: endurance<\/a>. \u00a0The Bible says it\u2019s for everyone.<\/p>\n 2. Vision begats endurance<\/strong>. \u00a0Catch the vision, and you\u2019ll endure. \u00a0Get stuck in the fog, and you\u2019ll get lost, discouraged, afraid. \u00a0You\u2019ll either wander through life without a sense of direction, or you\u2019ll stay stuck somewhere<\/p>\n 3. Vision requires looking.<\/strong> \u00a0One of my favorite passages in the Bible is II Cor. 3:16-18, because it tells me that I need to \u201cturn\u201d and then \u201cbehold\u201d God\u2019s glory. \u00a0The turning to Christ, implies a turning away from other things that hold our gaze. \u00a0If my life\u2019s consumed with the myriad of distractions that constantly fight for my attention, then I can go for a day, a week, a month \u2013 without really looking for Christ, his message, comfort, glory, power, or reign in my life. \u00a0\u201cWhat shall we eat, drink, wear? \u00a0What shall we watch? \u00a0Where shall we dance, or go for vacation? \u00a0Who\u2019s on American Idol? \u00a0What silly thing did Harry Reid or Michelle Bachmann say today? Why is the paint on my house peeling after only two years? \u00a0Why is school starting so soon? \u00a0Why am I single? \u00a0Why am I married? \u00a0Why am I struggling with eating, or sex? \u00a0Why do I sleep too much?\u201d \u00a0Or\u2026 maybe you\u2019re religious: \u00a0\u201cWhy is Rob Bell a universalist? (but you don\u2019t know he is). \u00a0Why is my church so small?, or Why aren\u2019t other churches great, and pure, and reaching people for Jesus like mine? \u00a0Why do I have four church events this week? \u00a0Why don\u2019t I witness more? \u00a0Why doesn\u2019t God answer my prayers? \u00a0How old is the earth?\u201d \u00a0Feeling foggy yet? \u00a0Me too!<\/p>\n Paul, on the other hand, advocated and demonstrate a laser like focus on the summit<\/a>. \u00a0He foresaw a day when God\u2019s good reign would change everything: Every. Single. \u00a0Atom. \u00a0The universe will be saturated with the glory of Christ,<\/a> and our calling, until then, is to let that saturation begin \u2013 filling us, so that we overflow with the presence of Jesus.<\/p>\n 4. Don\u2019t limit vision to Bible reading.<\/strong> \u00a0Vision comes from revelation, and revelation must<\/em><\/strong> certainly come from the Bible. \u00a0We all need our coffee with God.<\/a> \u00a0But Hebrews 12 reminds me that vision also comes from the lives of others, called the \u201ccloud of witnesses\u201d. \u00a0Jim Elliot<\/a> taught me about total commitment. \u00a0Sophie Scholl<\/a> taught me about standing up to evil and lies with courage and grace, taught me to reject the lie that I\u2019m \u201ctoo young\u201d or \u201ctoo simple\u201d \u00a0or too anything else. \u00a0The staff in New Hampshire taught me about service this summer. \u00a0My friends at HIM<\/a> teach me about leading with grace, and being passionate for families. \u00a0Paul Brand<\/a> taught me about simplicity and service. \u00a0I\u2019m out of time, but not out names. \u00a0You get the point. \u00a0Who inspires you? \u00a0Find them, and let them shape your vision, along with the revelation you get during your coffee with God. \u00a0I need all of it and more, and when I see \u2013 I endure.<\/p>\n 5. If vision begats endurance, endurance strengthens<\/em> endurance<\/strong>. \u00a0There\u2019s no way I\u2019m going to the hut, and not going to the top. \u00a0There\u2019s no way I\u2019m investing 10 years in this marriage and not making it to 11. \u00a0There\u2019s no way I\u2019m leaving the church I lead \u2013 not now, not in the middle of the story. \u00a0When I\u2019m in the mountains, I sometimes say, with Peter, \u201cJesus, let\u2019s just chill here for a while\u201d.<\/em> \u00a0But no, it can\u2019t be that way. \u00a0There\u2019s a vision \u2013 to make the invisible God visible in my city, my marriage, my world. \u00a0So down we go, to the valley. \u00a0But we\u2019ve climbed. \u00a0We\u2019ve seen. \u00a0And we\u2019ll never be the same.<\/p>\n Thanks be to you O God\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n For the saints around us who reflect your glory, who are passionate in their love, humble in their service, courageous in their convictions. \u00a0Grant that we might see your vision with greater clarity for having been with them. \u00a0Grant us eyes to see your glory in creation, in trials, in your Word. \u00a0And seeing where you\u2019re taking us, grant us the endurance to go there. \u00a0Step by step by step by step\u2026.until the very top. \u00a0Glory to you! \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Amen<\/em><\/p>\n What hinders you from seeing and having vision? \u00a0What helps?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In contrast, here\u2019s Paul<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mt. Lafayette is, by any Pacific Northwest standards, just a hill, topping off at a mere 5,249 feet. \u00a0It\u2019s beautiful in it\u2019s own right, but only a hill. \u00a0Still, the hike to to the summit is an exercise in endurance because most of the hike is shrouded in forest, save the few openings where one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,12,13],"tags":[23360,29,53],"class_list":["post-1721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inhaling","category-leadership","category-life","tag-coffee-with-god","tag-endurance","tag-vision"],"yoast_head":"\n