Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person on record to reach the top of Mt. Everest. The climbing expedition took 2 months, through treacherous snow, ice, wind, and thin air. And when this WWII veteran woke up the final morning of the climb, Hillary found his boots were frozen. It took two hours to thaw them out.
But at last, after all the preparation and danger, on May 29, 1953, at 11:30 a.m., Sir Edmund Hillary became the first man to set foot on the peak of Mt Everest. He said, most famously, “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
For us, this is a way of looking at faith. It’s “conquering ourselves”—giving up on our own strength and abilities in order to trust the heavenly Father for everything. Jesus said by faith in God you could move a mountain (Mark 11:23). Then right away He says we are to forgive those who’ve done wrong to us (Mark 11:25).
Perhaps forgiveness is a Mt. Everest in your life. It seems impossible to let go of the right to be bitter and hold a grudge toward someone who has caused us hurt. But Jesus didn’t say by faith you could climb a mountain; He said you could cast it into the sea!
Only by trusting in God can you forgive and release the person who has harmed you. Forgiveness won’t be easy, but that’s where faith comes in. Faith says, “God, I believe that You are all I need, and so I can let go of the hurt and cling forever close to You.” If this is a struggle, you can pray like the apostles, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5).
In the end, it’s not really our faith that moves mountains, but the God in whom we trust.
