"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass!" (Italics mine, Psalm 37:5) This Psalm is so beautiful and well suited for a life lived for Him! However, at times in my life the commit part can be so hard on my flesh! When you find yourself all in something there is a level of deep commitment that must go with it! That level must be greater than any of the temptations to stop. It must be unchanging, never-moving and set up like concrete at the bottom of your soul. Many times as we are about to approach the summit of something God is doing in our life, it is in these precise moments that our commitment levels are tested. He spoke to me recently about climbing a mountain and that I was almost to the summit of a refreshing change in my life! However, He also began reminding me that the closer you get- it can become increasingly steep, the air can become dangerously shallow and the need for the supernatural becomes greater with every step! Wow!

In this season of my life, I am in the thick of raising four small children. As you know it is God’s most beautiful gift…but there are also those times in which it entails school lunches, crying babies, dirty diapers, sibling arguments, spilling of milk and even the occasional part- time plumbing all before breakfast!! I am here to tell you that I have actually felt like the air is absent in some of these moments!!! I have been stretched, pulled, shoved, overwhelmed, overburdened, and generally on the verge of mental collapse at times!! The “strict training” that I am finding myself in seems nothing short of what an athlete in preparation for world class event must feel like. But thank you to my awesome God for reminding me that the summit is SO close! I am almost there and these are proving to be the normal emotions that go with it! They do not necessarily indicate a weakness in your walk but an opportunity to let Him take over. They test your commitment! They test your resolve! They test your ability to continuously hand it over to the One who made you!!!! And if you are anything like me---you sometimes withhold the everyday experiences from God and just include him only in the life-altering ones! Obviously He is the God of the breakthrough, but He is decidingly the God of the (daily) breakdown as well!!!!!! He doesn’t ask us to do any of this without His hand in ours. So you see, the supernatural is not just reserved for the last step of a powerful testimony! It is in EVERY step up from the valley to the top and especially the final moments of your journey where the ascent has reached levels way, way, way beyond human capacity and endurance.

Recently as I shared this summit experience with dear friend, she sent me an amazing psalm she had written that day! God is so wonderful to confirm and affirm us through our friends just at the perfect moments. This is called the psalm (sacred song or poem) of ascent...I have found myself professing this as a make my way toward the top. So whatever leg of the journey you are on to Gods best for you life, I pray you tuck this poem in your pocket, commit every step to Him, trust His leading and watch Him bring it to pass!

Entering His Presence---A Psalm of Ascent

You alone are God – above You, there is no other!

          

Before You . . . There was none! . . . You alone are beyond description!

You are set apart – Holy - like no other!

You are All in All! The Alpha and Omega – beginning and ending!

The Creator of all that was, all that is, and all that is yet to come!

Yet, You are my God. You are near me.

You are my Father . . . Abba God!

You love me with an everlasting love. You are always for me.

You have plans for me and they are always designed for my good.

You are my covering. You have placed a banner of love over me.

You are my cleft of safety - my courage.

How can I fear with You walking beside me?!

You are my deliverer and my desire.

You are both my fortress and my hiding place.

You are my promise maker and my promise keeper.

You are my rock – my shelter – my security!

You are my shield, my stronghold, my strong tower, my strength!

You are my ever present help. You uphold me with loving arms.

You are my truth. You are the voice I must turn my ear toward!

By your grace, I will not remain as I am, but will continually pursue You.

I will not allow idols that tempt my life to overshadow You!

I will not be only a God-Watcher – a spectator student of God –

But I will be a God-Chaser – a Disciple – a favored Daughter of the Most High!

All the days of my life . . . as long as I have breath . . . I will follow hard after You!

by Sue Caldwell 9/25/2010