Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

You do not climb a significant mountain without an unwavering sense of commitment to the destination. You do not get to the top without being dedicated. Only climbing when you “feel like it” will never take you to new heights. You only get to the top by hard work and endurance. “Feeling like it” may get you started, but it will not keep you going. On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first men in history to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. They traveled through extreme conditions in brutally freezing temperatures only because they were committed to the task. Many had tried to reach the summit before but had given up just short of the goal. Hillary once said, “If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go.”

You have to determine within yourself that nothing will hold you back from your dream to make it to the top. When the terrain gets rough, too many people give up short of their dreams. When faced with obstacles and challenges, many people simply forfeit in defeat, but in order to reach the top, we will always have to fight through the setbacks and unforeseen challenges. Remember this, you cannot climb a smooth mountain. It is the rocky places that we can use to become better and stronger in life.

Right now, God may have you in the middle of your mission, and you are thinking about giving up, or maybe you are unaware of what your mission is. Do not be discouraged, but allow the hope and power of God to fill your life so you can fulfill His purposes. Begin to accept where you are, believe in your potential, and ask God for supernatural wisdom to accomplish your mission. Saint Augustine said, “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”