A Pleasant Arbor

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling."   Jude 24

In May 2019, filmmaker Elia Saikaly scaled Mt. Everest while filming a documentary. He described a gruesome scene at the summit, where climbers had to go past a dead body to reach the top of the mountain. In a Facebook post, Mr. Saikaly wrote: "I cannot believe what I saw up there. Death...Carnage...Chaos. Dead bodies were on the route and in the tents at Camp Four. We walked over dead bodies. Everything you read in the sensational headlines all played out on our summit night."

I have never had a desire to mountain climb, and at my age now, I don't need adventure. But, the Christian life has many similarities to mountain climbing. We should constantly be striving to grow spiritually and trying to go higher or closer to the Lord. Living the Christian life has never been easy, but the last year and a half have brought trials, tests, and difficulties that have never been experienced before in the American church. I don't know anyone that has not been touched in some way by COVID-19. It seems every day brings more bad news of suffering, pain, and sorrow.

As I was reading the story of Mt. Everest, it reminded me of a section from John Bunyan's Christian allegory,  The Pilgrim's Progress.  On his journey, Christian reaches a place called "Hill Difficulty." He starts with great energy and enthusiasm to overcome the hill, running the first part of the way. His running soon becomes crawling on his hands and feet. Bunyan writes, "Now, about the midway to the top of the hill was a Pleasant Arbor, made by the Lord of the hill for the refreshing of weary travelers."

On Christian's challenging climb up the hill, the Lord provided a pleasant arbor where he could rest and refresh himself. God's goodness and provision will never abandon His children in their times of trouble. He will always provide an arbor. The arbor represents a Word of grace -- a truth or promise of Scripture that applies to our present situation.

In 2002, I found myself climbing the hill of difficulty. I was battling aggressive, third-stage breast cancer. I sought the Lord for a Scripture that I could stand on my faith. He gave me  Psalm 118:17 , " I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord."  He miraculously healed me, and I have declared His works to many people. His Word was a  pleasant arbor  to me.

According to the dictionary, an arbor is a shelter or a shady resting place. Are you tired and weary? The Lord wants to be your arbor. He's saying, " Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."    Matthew 11:28 

Are you facing a crisis? Invite Christ into that crisis with you.

In the OT book of Daniel, three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, found themselves in a crisis. The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had erected a huge, golden image and commanded everyone to bow to it or face death. The three boys refused to bow, and the king had them thrown in a furnace that had been made seven times hotter. To the king's amazement, there were no screams, no smell of burning flesh. The three boys had been joined by a fourth man that had the appearance of the Son of God. Jesus Christ had come into their crisis!

Jesus did not come into the Hebrews' crisis to impress a heathen king. He came into their crisis to be a shelter, their shade from the heat of the furnace.

What kind of crisis are you facing? Is it spiritual, financial, mental, physical? Is it your marriage, job, or your children? People are facing things that have no human solution. We need the Lord, but how can we get Him to commit to our crisis? By becoming committed to Him. The three Hebrew boys, as well as Daniel, had made three significant commitments.

1. They committed themselves to live a pure lifestyle amid a wicked, ungodly society.

We live in a society that now calls "good, evil" and "evil, good." and grows more anti-Christian every day. No matter how ungodly our nation becomes, we must be committed to living our lives according to the Word of God.

2. They committed themselves to seek God and become men of prayer. 

"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting."   Daniel 9:3

Faithful praying will not always keep you  out  of a crisis, but prayer will prepare you to face it with trust in God.

In 1985, my sister Ann was facing colon cancer surgery. On the morning of her surgery, many members of our family lined the hallway as nurses wheeled her to the surgery department. We were there to comfort and support her, but she looked at us with a big smile and said, "I've already prayed this morning; I'm not afraid." Prayer didn't start when Ann heard the word  cancer . She had committed at a young age to live a life of prayer and seeking the Lord faithfully. As a result of that commitment, Ann often found the Lord to be a  pleasant arbor  to her.

3. They committed to trusting God--live or die completely!

These men were facing the biggest crisis any human being could face, yet they told the king, " If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace and He will deliver us out of thine hand...But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."  Daniel 3: 16-18

Will the hatred of Christ ever reach the point in America that we will be forced to either renounce Him or die? None of us know, but now is the time to commit, live or die; I will trust the Lord. When we make those commitments to Him, He will meet us in every crisis. He will walk through the fire, flood, sickness, even death with us.

In May 2001, Erik Weihenmayer accomplished something that only about 150 people per year do--reaching the top of Mt. Everest. What made Erik's achievement unusual is that he was the first blind person to succeed in scaling the tallest mountain above sea level in the world. Rather than focus on what he could not do, Erik chose to focus on what he could do. Erik Weihenmayer's autobiography is  Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther Than the Eye Can See.

You may be facing a mountain so tall that the summit is obscured by dark clouds or a valley so deep that you see no way out, but don't stop climbing!

Let your faith go farther than your eyes can see. Look to Jesus; He will provide a  pleasant arbor!  He is exceeding, abundantly able to keep you from falling! A Word of grace may come through reading His Word, a sermon, a song, or a word from a friend.

"If you can't see His way past the tears, trust His heart." ~ Charles Spurgeon