The Death Zone – Spiritual AcclimatizationSample

Day 3: Spiritually Acclimated

When the human body is fully acclimatized to high-altitude, it can accomplish amazing feats. Climbing is still challenging as there’s always obstacles outside of our control. But when our bodies can properly function, we are more aware and able to respond to those challenges. Otherwise, we’re too distracted with basic survival needs that we become incapacitated when things don’t go as planned. And life rarely goes as planned. We’re essentially climbing in reactive mode rather than being proactive, which is a very dangerous way to climb any mountain or live life.

Allowing the Holy Spirit to continually flow through our body, gives us new life. We are able to walk out our journey toward everlasting life, proactively avoiding sinful obstacles. We are able to lead others not just by our words, but by our Christ-like actions. We are in a better mindset to avoid and conquer sin.  We are more willing to serve and love our neighbors. Life becomes less about us and more about glorifying our Heavenly Father.  

Spiritual acclimatization enables us to look at all aspects of our world through a different lens. When we know we’ll have eternal life and are in constant conversation with our Lord and Savior, our perspective is so much greater than anything this life can offer. This humbled attitude transfers into our family life, work life, and all interactions we’re blessed to have. It’s contagious as others will see something different about you that they want in their own lives. This opens the door to witnessing your faith and leading others to Christ, not just by your words but also your actions.

Jesus protects his people from eternal harm. Satan may have a foothold on this world, but he cannot harm our souls or take away our eternal life in heaven. There are many things to fear on earth, but the more spiritually acclimated we are, the more equipped we are to deal with the devil’s traps. And only through Christ will we have eternal life. With God as our guide, there’s no mountain we can’t climb!

Brian Dickinson’s miracle on Mount Everest is captured in his book, Blind Descent. To learn more about the book and for other resources visit http://briandickinson.net