Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Reflection - Number Our Days - The Hill Difficulty

Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 33, "The Hill Difficulty", Page 156.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.


He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. - Isaiah 49:10
PHOTO: He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. - Isaiah 49:10

There is a glacial lake that lies high in a fold of Jug Handle Peak in the mountains north of our home in Boise. It's a dot in the map, but a place of rare beauty and tranquility for me.

The route to the lake takes me up a steep, exposed ridge through boulders and scree. It's a strenuous ascent - hard on my old heart and legs. In the summer, the sun beats down mercilessly on my head, and there's no shade to be found anywhere. At the bottom of the climb, however, there's a brook - a spring that seeps out of soft, mossy earth and flows through a lush meadow crammed with flowers that bloom in wild profusion. It's a quiet place to hydrate myself and prepare for the hard climb that lies ahead.

This reminds me of the moment in The Pilgrim's Progress when Christian and his fellow-travelers find themselves at the foot of another steep ascent, the Hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which there is a spring. "Christian now went to the spring and drank thereof to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill."

Perhaps you, too, stand at the foot of Hill Difficulty facing an impossibly high mountain to be climbed, a challenge that cannot be met through mere strength or wisdom. Perhaps your mountain is the care of an aging or disabled spouse, a difficult financial decision - one on which your earthly future depends - or a painful recovery from a surgical procedure. The demands seem insurmountable.

Before you do anything else, visit the spring that is God himself. Come to Him with all your weakness, weariness, helplessness, failures, doubt, and fear. Drink deeply of His power and wisdom; fill yourself full of His everlasting love. (Dehydration imperils the body and soul.) Ask for faith and hardy endurance to face and surmount the difficulty. (To ask is to receive.)

Whatever we have to do, God must perfect it. He knows all our circumstances and supplies us ahead of time with a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation, that we may have ready at hand, that we can resort to and lay up in our heart as an antidote against despair.

We drink from the spring from which our Lord himself drank when He stood at the foot of Hill Calvary - "a brook beside the way." (Psalm 110:7) Then, rested and refreshed, having set the Lord before us, we can rise and face the difficulty that looms ahead.

The mountain may remain, as demanding as ever. But forearmed with prevenient (formal) grace - God's goodness and mercy that precedes all human effort - we can ascend with steady faith, hope, and love.
PHOTO: He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. - Isaiah 49:10 
Picture posted by jaz
PHOTO: A place of rare beauty and tranquility
Picture posted by Italy Review
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmz4huRnEpwA9ubBxFdvPvMIcJgLAp2viAPsBZOnRbyLw-jSInzKUS_UbAQAA1QDvJ54Q3uPF3FcZ8_2bQje5Y8g4H2x2pYEOkof9sPHZdJp3FakKpwAOLm0kkqBKtCRWOyGUMAjLwHAc21CyE-4HRxHG9P6ejS_9ZWpj4pjPYXa54YV9JFnPq8T3J=s619
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https://www.italyreview.com/molveno.html


The route to the lake takes me up a steep, exposed ridge through boulders and scree. It's a strenuous ascent - hard on my old heart and legs. In the summer, the sun beats down mercilessly on my head, and there's no shade to be found anywhere. At the bottom of the climb, however, there's a brook - a spring that seeps out of soft, mossy earth and flows through a lush meadow crammed with flowers that bloom in wild profusion. It's a quiet place to hydrate myself and prepare for the hard climb that lies ahead.


The route to the lake takes me up a steep, exposed ridge through boulders and scree.PHOTO: The route to the lake takes me up a steep, exposed ridge through boulders and scree. It's a strenuous ascent - hard on my old heart and legs. In the summer, the sun beats down mercilessly on my head, and there's no shade to be found anywhere. At the bottom of the climb, however, there's a brook that lows through a lush meadow crammed with flowers that bloom in wild profusion. It's a quiet place to hydrate myself and prepare for the hard climb that lies ahead.
Picture saved by JillTurrentineDesign to travel
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT8Rx2KI4S47D_-K6S2tGUecvtm9p7bAayvLMcqsH6yW56Kt65XXHuiTyyJaf3mXVxq4wDRBO_KaUjRjWhjgMjPxPivE0R1gfc14eyer2wbDpcL9uRunvbTSwbw3iQHars-06ucxch_iI/s1078/c3682c310b1daca51f6ceafae84431f1.gif
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c3/68/2c/c3682c310b1daca51f6ceafae84431f1.gif
https://br.pinterest.com/pin/411586853446970719/?amp_client_id=CLIENT_ID(_)&mweb_unauth_id={{default.session}}&simplified=true
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/09/reflection-number-our-days-river-runs.html


This reminds me of the moment in The Pilgrim's Progress when Christian and his fellow-travelers find themselves at the foot of another steep ascent, the Hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which there is a spring. "Christian now went to the spring and drank thereof to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill." [167]


In The Pilgrim's Progress when Christian and his fellow-travelers find themselves at the foot of another steep ascent, the Hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which there is a spring.
PHOTO: In The Pilgrim's Progress when Christian and his fellow-travelers find themselves at the foot of another steep ascent, the Hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which there is a spring. "Christian now went to the spring and drank thereof to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill."
Picture posted in Index of /books/bunyan/pilgrim - The Hill Difficulty
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfoxrhVoMGBmOD31RrxG5izM4FQdyW4QjrEcryx6QaCsfpMZyuH1jdtJXaBzb9Eq1Dz6tmMri7sF0QwRFiP9QJp8Ps0QJoGJvIVpgXmURAARulUrTZInFMiQ35QPZSKZj_WamdgymmIqIjiBQU8JPqnGdP-WVd5pBFxA5_0rMhg3v00D2CUiak1aWO=s1106
https://www.mainlesson.com/books/bunyan/pilgrim/zpage040.gif
https://www.mainlesson.com/books/bunyan/pilgrim/


Perhaps you, too, stand at the foot of Hill Difficulty facing an impossibly high mountain to be climbed, a challenge that cannot be met through mere strength or wisdom. Perhaps your mountain is the care of an aging or disabled spouse, a difficult financial decision - one on which your earthly future depends - or a painful recovery from a surgical procedure. The demands seem insurmountable.


Perhaps we, too, stand at the foot of Hill Difficulty facing an impossibly high mountain to be climbed, a challenge that cannot be met through mere strength or wisdom.
PHOTO: Perhaps we, too, stand at the foot of Hill Difficulty facing an impossibly high mountain to be climbed, a challenge that cannot be met through mere strength or wisdom. Perhaps your mountain is the care of an aging or disabled spouse, a difficult financial decision - one on which your earthly future depends - or a painful recovery from a surgical procedure. The demands seem insurmountable.
Picture posted by Datacolor
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOlCFgtDFLY8_-aSSzxeKG1PnFQZdiUe7trtFzxK5LLpjWqiJapwhBKc7NdoSAqW4urjDmlF9IgeShIQEsEdeh5wtKW2aGb6-nxn2cq1ZqoZSooWk4lKY3qRLls1Jq2b9imcUGpELHTmSuN9BpV3hh98-EneSCDoSHlVEv3a3m3zGu2ZUcyxG3Jea1=s1920
https://www.datacolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/20150702-_DSC0769.jpg
https://www.datacolor.com/de/martin-siering-questions/#&gid=43215p337&pid=43206


Before you do anything else, visit the spring that is God himself. Come to Him with all your weakness, weariness, helplessness, failures, doubt, and fear. Drink deeply of His power and wisdom; fill yourself full of His everlasting love. (Dehydration imperils the body and soul.) Ask for faith and hardy endurance to face and surmount the difficulty. (To ask is to receive.)


Before you do anything else, visit the spring that is God himself.
PHOTO: Before you do anything else, visit the spring that is God himself. Come to Him with all your weakness, weariness, helplessness, failures, doubt, and fear. Drink deeply of His power and wisdom; fill yourself full of His everlasting love. (Dehydration imperils the body and soul.) Ask for faith and hardy endurance to face and surmount the difficulty. (To ask is to receive.)
Picture posted by Erinsmagala Photography on 03 March 2019
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_Am3nyRncxuckhkphGUmIid6m3-_Md73A4ctz0J3dL-hkDmvEPW4zUj0d2TxdCqns1dMqF1ChRwLqe2ZobSvbVWOolIGwcIarQMUNBj5sT5SUGtl25MFnEvshxW7GAf4oPd8fC4ULCdlFIT6uEQnl_1Iolh6El_XwnVlLimGSsv-Wt5BjHmccV3Oz=s2048
https://erinsmagala.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/mount-juliet-tn-senior-portrait-photographer.jpg
https://erinsmagala.com/senior-pictures-in-nashville-tn-mikaylla/


Whatever we have to do, God must perfect it. He knows all our circumstances and supplies us ahead of time with a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation, that we may have ready at hand, that we can resort to and lay up in our heart as an antidote against despair. [168]


Whatever we have to do, God must perfect it.
PHOTO: Whatever we have to do, God must perfect it. He knows all our circumstances and supplies us ahead of time with a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation, that we may have ready at hand, that we can resort to and lay up in our heart as an antidote against despair.
Picture posted by Michelle, Magicalmemories on 29 April 2021
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZr-q7jEaO_EeYl5MpbMnHDf2YTiASt9j7TjNgx3riHL2TpFz7HvNrNnOOwJcn1y8ycVHPY2z51pGQzpWnIThmvcqaa4AuFx0MqPAkJZAvrYtxZX9DXQa2WBanLXYf-je6f2kYppSVu2bVllY1MtMmo7ps6CVVm6ro29qInt3OWFVJBMd5MfvVD-iT=s2048
https://magicalmemoriesbymichelle.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/best-locations-senior-pictures-lake-mesa.jpg
https://magicalmemoriesbymichelle.com/great-locations-senior-pictures/


We drink from the spring from which our Lord himself drank when He stood at the foot of Hill Calvary - "a brook beside the way." (Psalm 110:7) [169] Then, rested and refreshed, having set the Lord before us, we can rise and face the difficulty that looms ahead.


We drink from the spring from which our Lord himself drank when He stood at the foot of Hill Calvary - 'a brook beside the way.'
PHOTO: We drink from the spring from which our Lord himself drank when He stood at the foot of Hill Calvary - "a brook beside the way." (Psalm 110:7) Then, rested and refreshed, having set the Lord before us, we can rise and face the difficulty that looms ahead.
Pictrure posted by Public Domain Clipart Collection #10
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilsEll-lKen7N3QUM80VCDS-kSOclLc3v2Zh4ADr81IsvyYg5VyziIUeHl_l1PCfWuUELwhnyM1sy6c-ta-Ct4PUCA-GvIzWanbczugwAUecaubf89-_DBMMdweesSs0FDgF79RbuyI8BtyoU9udYS-B5_4wlH0vR_VTyzUMN-bwcsGZgu8So7yQzj=s1732
http://thebiblerevival.com/clipart/ps%20110%20-%207%20he%20shall%20drink%20of%20the%20brook%20in%20the%20way.jpg
http://thebiblerevival.com/clipart10.htm


The mountain may remain, as demanding as ever. But forearmed with prevenient (formal) grace - God's goodness and mercy that precedes all human effort - we can ascend with steady faith, hope, and love.


The mountain may remain, as demanding as ever. But forearmed with prevenient grace - God's goodness and mercy that precedes all human effort - we can ascend with steady faith, hope, and love.
PHOTO: The mountain may remain, as demanding as ever. But forearmed with prevenient grace - God's goodness and mercy that precedes all human effort - we can ascend with steady faith, hope, and love.
Picture posted by Donna Wuerch on Sunday, 06 April 2014 at 10:41 pm
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https://livinginthepeacezone.blogspot.com/2014/04/really-gods-goodness-and-mercy-are.html


Dear Lord
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, we pray for Your help when we stand at the foot of ‘Hill Difficulty’ facing an impossibly high mountain to be climbed, a challenge that cannot be met through mere strength or wisdom. Perhaps our mountain is the care of an aging or disabled spouse, a difficult financial decision - one on which our earthly future depends - or a painful recovery from a surgical procedure. And the demands seem insurmountable.

Bring us to visit the spring that is You, God, and drank thereof to refresh ourselves, before we began to go up the hill. May we come to You with all our weakness, weariness, helplessness, failures, doubt, and fear. Drink deeply of Your power and wisdom; fill ourselves full of Your everlasting love. We ask for faith and hardy endurance to face and surmount the difficulty.

Lord, whatever we have to do, You must perfect it. You knows all our circumstances and supplies us ahead of time with a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation, that we may have ready at hand, that we can resort to and lay up in our heart as an antidote against despair.

May we drink from the spring from which our Lord himself drank when He stood at the foot of Hill Calvary – ‘a brook beside the way.’ Then, rested and refreshed, having set the Lord before us, we can rise and face the difficulty that looms ahead.

The mountain of difficulty may remain, as demanding as ever. But forearmed with prevenient grace - Your goodness and mercy that precedes all human effort - we can ascend with steady faith, hope, and love.

Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Wood engraving by David Scott - Christian reaches the Cross, illustration for Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress
Picture posted by George P. Landow, The Victorian Web on  29 March 2014
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Reflection - Number Our Days - The Hill Difficulty
Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 33, "The Hill Difficulty", Page 156.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.


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Reference
[1] From "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Copyright © 2008 by David Roper, ISBN 978-981-11-7184-0, Chapter 33, "The Hill Difficulty", Page 156-158.

[167] John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, The Third Stage.

[168] Sir Thomas More, A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, written just before he ascended Hill Difficulty - His Martyrdom in 1535. The exact quotation from the original is: "I will supply you ahead of time with a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation, that you can have ready at hand, that you can resort to and lay up in your heart as an antidote against the poison of despairing dread."

[169] Psalm 110:7. This is a messianic psalm, as our Lord himself explained (Matthew 22:41-46); thus the "brook" is a reference to the spiritual resource to which Jesus resorted that strengthened Him to suffer the cross and enter into His royal priesthood.


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