A year and a half ago, I ran up to Hoch Blauen to watch the sunrise. The experience was so moving, I wanted to repeat it before leaving Germany again. It wasn’t going to be an exact copy, though. For one thing, a perfect moment can never be recreated. For another, last time it was fall on a foggy morning. This time, it was Spring on a clear Thursday morning.
As it is Spring, the sun rises really early. I mean really early – 5:30. I trudged out of the house at 4am, hoping I could convince my tired legs to carry me uphill for an hour and a half.
Something surprised me right away: the light. It wasn’t dark. It was 4am, and the sun was still an hour and a half away from rising, but it was light enough to see without a head lamp! It also wasn’t very cold; it was only a little chilly, which felt nice.
Running uphill during one of the most emotionally draining weeks of my life was not an easy thing. My legs protested, as did my mind. Why make myself more tired? As I ascended the first big hill, my mind started coming up with all kinds of excuses, reasons to turn around and go back to my bed for a couple more hours.
But then I thought of the sun. The glorious sunrise. That elusive source of light that has hidden behind clouds for far too long this year. And I ran on.
Partway up, I began to doubt that I would make it in time. Was I running too slowly? Was I walking too often on the hills? Would the sun rise earlier because Hoch Blauen is up so much higher than the valley?
Again, I thought of the sun. So what if I miss the moment it climbs above the hills? At least I’ll get to see morning light from a place with few obstructions!
The parallel to my spiritual life struck me. It’s like keeping my eyes on Jesus. In running up to Hoch Blauen, if my focus was on the time or on my tired body, I would never make it up the hill. My eyes had to be fixed on the prize, the goal, the light. Funny thing – I couldn’t see that sunlight until I got to the top. But my eyes were fixed on it.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Looking to Jesus. That’s how I want to live my life.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the LORD God is an everlasting rock.
Isaiah 26:3-4
Keeping my mind on God. Even when the pain of saying goodbye becomes too great to handle, He keeps me in perfect peace.
Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Proverbs 4:25-27
I finally made it to the top, and the sun was still lingering below the hills, waiting to appear. I climbed the lookout tower to get a better view of the sun’s rising. There is something breathtaking about that moment right before the sun peeks out.
Slowly, ray by ray, the sun came up. As it rose, I could feel new energy and life coming into my body. What is it about the sun that makes me feel like I can fly?
Running back down, songs of praise were going through my head and heart. My spirit poured out prayers and thoughts from this week full of emotion.
I made it home just after 7am – in time to shower and go to school. Rather than feeling exhausted all day, I felt exhilarated and energized. It’s amazing what a little perspective can do – the mountaintop that allows me to see out of the valley for just a little while.
This is beautiful, Jill. Thank you. Between the sun-rising pictures and the verses and the thought of keeping my eyes on the prize, I was tearing up. True and encouraging.