“Eternity will not be long enough to learn all He is, or to praise Him for all He has done.”- A. W. Tozer (The Pursuit of God, 2008)
In Chapter 8 (“Rim Huggers”) of All In, author Mark Batterson tells of the time he hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim with his son, Parker. They crossed23.2 miles of canyon in two days while battling 110-degree temperatures. Their clothes, caked with orange-colored canyon clay and sweat stains, were in stark contrast to the neatly pressed clothes of the sightseers lining the rim.
After Mark and Parker completed their trek, they stood next to the rim huggers. Although both had the same view, the rim huggers couldn’t possibly appreciate the view in the same way as Mark and Parker. What the rim huggers saw secondhand, Mark and Parker had experienced firsthand.
There is a world of difference, Pastor Batterson observes, between knowing about God and knowing God. If we wonder why God is so distant, it’s because we’re hugging the rim. We’re holding out. The author states that when we are rim huggers, we want:
1. joy without sacrifice
2. character without suffering
3. success without failure
4. it all without going all out for it
Pastor Batterson states that in the Hebrew language there is no distinction between knowing and doing. We have to “hike to the depths of His power and the heights of His holiness.”
Today’s question: In the period following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, have you tended to be a hugger or a hiker? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “The Finch Whisperer”
