“Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” -Hebrews 11:1
In the early 1800’s Thomas Jefferson commissioned two men to go on a journey of exceptional difficulty, in hopes to discover a water transit so that we could increase trade with Asia. These two men were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They set out to go west and eventually wet their feet in the mighty Pacific Ocean. Much of this territory was unexplored and undiscovered, and until that point no man had made such a journey.
It was 1804 when Lewis and Clarke began their Exodus across the USA to find the great Pacific. They traveled for many miles and many months up the great Missouri river, enduring every imaginable discomfort. Onward and onward they went until Clarke determined that they must be nearing the end of their journey; for they had reached the birthplace of the Missouri and were now headed downstream. After a few weeks of traveling downstream they were sure that this river would spill out into the Pacific: with Lewis, Clarke, and everyone else along with it. With this hope transfixed firmly in the forefront of their minds they sailed around the river bend only to find a great waterfall. Upon carrying all their boats and gear up the hill and around the waterfall, all the while thinking “this is it…this is it…this is it,” they arrive at the crest of the falls to see……the Pacific Northwest mountain range.
Now put yourself in their shoes. They have traveled for over a year, hoping to cross the country and find the Pacific, and I ask you………How did they even know it was there? Lewis and Clark had not sailed there. They had never seen it before, but men before them made the trip around the globe, and maps have been drawn from those early explorers. Lewis and Clark looked down at a map and saw that the United States rested in between the Atlantic and the Pacific….and “if this map is true then all we must do is head west, and if we head west long enough….we will reach the Pacific.” They had FAITH that it was there. Here at the base of this mountain, their faith was tested.
Often times in our sanctified experience our faith is tested; just as the heights of the Pacific Northwest Mountains beckoned to the conviction of Lewis and Clark. So the mountains in our lives call out to us and say “do you have the faith enough to climb?” “Do you have faith enough to press onward, believe that the blessing is on the other side?” Is heaven worth all the pressing here below? Yes!!! My brother, my sister it is worth ALL the pressing. No matter how tall the mountain or how deep the valley, if we have the faith that the Pacific is on the other side God will carry us through, and the mountain is now removed. It was totally irrelevant to Lewis and Clark how tall the mountain range was, because regardless they were pressing on. The waters of the Pacific was worth more to them than the temptation to turn back, and they had the faith that it was on the other side. Friends our home is on the other side; we know this by faith.
What God has blessed us with this week is the knowledge of the Pacific and a map to get there. All I must have is faith. All you must have is faith.
Thoughts?
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