July 28, 2026 – Daily Devotional
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” -Galatians 6:9
Recently, my wife and I hiked to the top of Quandary Peak outside Breckenridge, CO. This idea started as a suggestion from some friends who spend their summers in the mountains. We have tackled numerous hikes before, but nothing of this caliber. Our friends said they’d “Drop us off at the trailhead around 6 a.m., and that we should finish the hike in about seven or eight hours…”
“What?! Seven or eight hours?!” In our naïve perspective, we read the total trail distance to be around seven miles and thought it would take maybe three hours at a good pace. But neither of us was ready for this brutal 3.5-mile climb, which surged nearly 3,500 feet from a starting elevation of 10,800 feet to over 14,200 feet.
So, naïve and confident, we arrived at the trailhead at 6:00 a.m. and started one of the most brutal and testing feats we have yet to tackle together.
I remember the first mile being pleasant. The sun was just beginning to rise above the mountain ridge, and the air was cool. The gradual incline was manageable.
By the second mile, we left the firs and aspens behind to ascend above the tree line. The trail became a series of rugged stone steps, and I was deeply impressed by the hard work it took to build and maintain such a path.
The third mile was beautiful! The trail flattened out quite a bit as we walked along the ridge crest looking into deep valleys on either side. Our previous day’s hike to a waterfall was now 1,500ft below us to our left!
The final half mile we climbed shifting talus. Winded after every few steps, we rested on boulders, questioning whether the summit was worth the cost. This is where faith is tested most — not at the trailhead, but in the exhausted middle, when turning back seems reasonable.
The hiking community is a supportive community. Everyone we met along the way was kind with their greetings and affirming of the difficult climb everyone was taking on. One man who was already descending said, “There’s a lady at the top giving out cookies and lemonade! If you hurry, there might be some left!”
What? Lemonade and cookies at the top? I can barely carry myself, and someone took extra liquid and food to give out to strangers?
Sure enough, at the peak there was a young woman who extended two cups of lemonade and said, “You guys get my last two cups!
Standing on Quandary Peak, exhausted and overjoyed, I understood something new: God did not design an easy world. He designed one worth climbing — where struggle sharpens us, community sustains us, and the summit is always worth the ascent.
-Logan Fish, Edmond Campus Director of Church and Community Life
