Most of us were asleep on the other side of the world when Xia Boyu, a Chinese national reached the summit of Mt. Everest May 14. Impressive for anyone, but even more so for a sixty-nine-year-old double amputee.
And, get this. This was Xia’s fifth attempt to scale the world’s highest peak, and it was on one of his earlier expeditions that he lost his lower legs to frostbite after lending his sleeping bag to a needy friend. That was 1975.
But he kept at it. In 2014, climbing season was cancelled due to an avalanche. But he didn’t quit. His attempt in 2015 was also cancelled following a 7.8 earthquake that shook Nepal and triggered more avalanches on the mountain. But he tried again. In 2016, Xia got to within 300 feet of the summit when a blizzard forced him to retreat.
But he came back. And last month he made it. In the cold. In the snow. With prosthetic legs.
After an earthquake, avalanche, frostbite, amputation, and a blizzard.
Are you kidding?
We would have hedged at the first fluffy flake whirling in front of our goggles. Nope, let’s turn back. The hill is too high, the snow too deep, the rope too short, or the hike too long. Give us a reason. We’ll just stay indoors and watch someone else take the summit. On ESPN, that is.
It doesn’t take much to make us quit. Sure, we prattle on about determination and perseverance and stick-to-it and never, never, never quit. But the truth is we’ll waffle the moment life gets sketchy. If our feet hurt, our wallet is low, our sheets are warm. Just give us an excuse and we’ll stay put, back off, sleep in.
No, it doesn’t take much for us to quit. And we are always armed with an excuse, a rationalization tucked away for when we need it. Yeah, we know how to quit. We’re even good at it.
So here’s the question: what does it take to keep going? To keep trying? What separates those who ascend to the summit from those who pitch camp at the base while other people climb to the top?
Xia answers that question. “I love the mountain,” Xia told Time prior to his climb, “I will fight for it my entire life.”
A purpose greater than ourselves. Perseverance is not produced by grit. It’s the product of focus, of purpose, of passion. It happens when climbing that mountain is more than what you want to do. It is what you must do. And it’s the clear sense that quitting before you reach the summit will rob you of the chance to be part of something greater than yourself. So you commit. You will fight for it your entire life.
And for Christians, there is still more to it than that. It is the fundamental belief that God planted you on this earth for precisely that reason—to be part of His great work, a purpose greater than yourself.
You had a spiritual forefather like that. Remember Caleb? He had waited forty-five years for this moment, to receive the portion of land that was always meant to be his. Now, at eight-five years old, he found his place in line, shuffled to the front, and he stepped forward. He looked his friend Joshua in the eye and said, “Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised” (Joshua 14:12).
It’s time for me to take the summit, Josh. The height of the hill doesn’t matter. And the size of the opposition isn’t an issue. Fortified cities? I know that. But no matter. Only one thing matters. God promised me that peak. And He is with me. This is my time. This is my cause. No excuses.
“I love that mountain. I will fight for it my entire life.”
Do you know what distinguishes great churches from churches that settle? It’s the same thing that separates parents who endure from parents who give up, powerful leaders from managers of mediocrity, high-impact Christians from Christians who relax on cushy seats and become spectators watching others advance God’s kingdom.
Purpose. That deep calling, that sense of awareness that reverberates in our souls. This is bigger than us. We cannot settle. We will not stop.
Some Christians quit. Lots are just lazy. But then come those that change the world, who fight for their families, who stand for the truth, who refuse to give in to the complacency that surrounds them, and who accept no excuses. They look at the summit and say, “Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3:20).
Feel like giving up? Don’t stop now. You’ve yet to see what He can do through you.