Keep Climbing

For the past two decades, the C-Span television network has assembled a diverse group of presidential scholars to conduct a survey evaluating the 45 men who have held the highest office in our country.  The survey evaluates each of them on 10 characteristics of leadership, including such factors as vision, crisis leadership, and performance within the context of their times.  In each of the four surveys that have been conducted, Abraham Lincoln has always been ranked first.

This admiration for Lincoln’s presidency transcends the realm of professional scholars. According to one estimate, more than 15,000 books have been written on or about the 16th President of the United States, more that have been written on or about all of the other presidents combined. Lincoln’s words have entered our national lexicon, his convictions have defined our collective conscience, and his example has shaped our social fabric.

This affection for President Lincoln stems in large part from the fact that he steered our ship of state during the Civil War, which remains the deadliest and defining conflict in American history. More than 600,000 Americans died during that conflict—more than any other war in the nations’s history. Against the forces that sought to divide and destroy what has been called the “noblest experiment in self government” ever devised by the humankind, Lincoln held our country together, ensuring that a “government for the people, by the people and of the people did not perish from the face of the earth.”

Students of Lincoln have attempted to trace the reasons for his stunning success. Although theories abound, I recently came across a timeline of his political and personal life that provides a clue. Even more impressive than what Lincoln did while he was in office is what Lincoln had to go through before he reached office. Consider Lincoln’s climb to the highest office in the land:

1832 Lost job

1833 Failed in business

1836 Had nervous breakdown

1838 Defeated for Speaker of Illinois House of Respresentatives

1843 Defeated for nomination for Congress r

1846 Elected to US Congress

1848 Lost renomination to US Congress

1854 Defeated for U.S. Senate

1856 Defeated for nomination for Vice President

1858 Again defeated for U.S. Senate

1860 Elected President.

When you consider everything he went through, it should not be surprising that Lincoln was so effective once he arrived. As Sahil Bloom put it, “the climb is a necessity, not an option. If you get dropped off at the top of the mountain, the altitude will kill you. It’s the climb that prepares you for the summit.” Lincoln had to climb over personal tragedy and through continual loss and repeated defeat in order to reach the summit of political power. And Lincoln is no exception.

Although you may never run for political office, all of us have some mountain to climb. Never forget that God has called you to a higher plane. There is a summit on which you are destined to stand. The distance between where you are and where you are supposed to be may be rough and rocky. But always ear in mind the promise of the prophet Habakkuk, who left this truth to posterity:

The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]! (Habakkuk 3:19)

All of us should strive to do all that we can from the highest mountain from which we can. The climb will be arduous. But it will be worth it.

Don’t ask God to move the mountain. Ask God to give you the strength to climb.