The Climb Within: Sacrifice by Wes Mast

This blog is part of the series "The Climb Within." If you haven't read any of the previous blogs, start here! "The Inner Mountain"

 

 “Higher elevation will require adaptation.”

Every climb reaches a moment that demands something you didn’t plan for.

You’ve started.
You’ve struggled.
You’ve endured.

And then the mountain asks something more.

Not more effort, — more release. Not endurance — adaptation. 

Sacrifice requires a choice

Sacrifice doesn’t happen by accident. It’s chosen.

Choice to let our vision of what we thought the destination would be - die.
Choice to release what we are trying to control.
Choice to let go of identities that worked in the last season but won’t work in the next.

Most people don’t stall because they can’t climb higher. They stall because they refuse to put something down.

You Can’t Carry Everything Up the Mountain

No climber reaches higher elevations carrying everything they brought to the base. Not because they’re weak — but because weight matters. The higher you go, the more honest the question becomes:

What am I carrying that no longer serves where I’m headed?

Sacrifice isn’t about loss for loss’s sake. It’s about alignment. What once helped you climb can eventually slow you down.

The Gift Hidden in Sacrifice

Sacrifice will cost you something.

Time.
Security.
Image.
Certainty.

But it gives you something too.

Freedom.
Focus.
Faith.
Capacity.

What you release creates space for what’s next.  Once you have the space for what’s next it’s time to focus on what will last. Attachment distracts us from the path.  

When the Vision Has to Change

One of the hardest sacrifices isn’t what you’re carrying — it’s what you expected.

What you thought the climb would look like.
What you believed success would require.
What you imagined the summit would be.

I personally wrestled with this years ago in our business. We had grown every year since we started in business. The business had grown beyond what I thought it would when we started. It felt amazing…and I got really use to that feeling of winning. It turns out, not all years are going to feel like winning. What happens when something comes along that turns our world upside down? Economy fluctuations, real estate markets, a pandemic? 

Covid and the aftermath was a roller coaster of years that we are still feeling the effects from. My pretty and mostly predictable charts and bell curves were suddenly useless. The goals I set became unachievable during the set time frames. Now remember, the business had still grown well past what I originally thought, but now the finish line had moved. The destination had been pushed to a new level. Candidly, I was shocked at what that reality revealed. It was very hard for me to let my goals die. The business also hit rough waters which added to the turmoil. I truly had to shift my relationship and reliance on the business because my personal identity had become way too wrapped in business success. It was a brutal lesson during a brutal time in my life. What I found interesting is that I had been through lower times previously, but this time I can honestly say was my darkest. It's not the truth of your situation that shapes your reality as much as your perspective does. Response dictates reality - don’t miss that.  

Sometimes the original vision must be released so the truer calling can emerge. For me the truer calling was putting my faith in God regardless of the outcome.

“If it’s working, it must be right.” …not so much, not always.  “Success” and “Winning” can cover a lot of gaps in you. Times will get hard.  The journey will take turns - some will be a delight and some will be brutal.

Not because the vision was wrong — but because maybe it was incomplete, maybe you fell in love with the vision more than you ought, maybe parts of you exist that you don’t want to admit. There are so many reasons why we respond to the ups and downs the way we do. The journey reveals what the destination never could.

And often, what will be requires surrendering what you thought would be. You can be “successful” and still be misaligned.

The Weight of Familiar Things

The hardest things to sacrifice are rarely bad. What weighs us down is not always evil.

They’re familiar.
They’re comfortable.
They’re successful.

But familiarity can become friction when it keeps you tied to who you were instead of freeing you for who you’re becoming. Sometimes what you’re being asked to give up isn’t something bad or sinful— it’s something good that has simply outgrown its purpose in your life.

Not every sacrifice is about walking away from wrong. Some sacrifices are about releasing what once worked… but no longer fits who you’re becoming or where you’re being led.

Letting Go Before Moving Up

We often ask God to show us the next step. More often, He points to what needs to be released first. Sacrifice usually comes before elevation, because if you take old weight into new territory, the climb becomes unsustainable.

The mountain doesn’t get easier — but the load will be lighter.

Refusal vs. Inability

Many people believe they’re stuck because they’re incapable. More often, they’re stuck because they’re clinging to what is holding them back.

Unwilling to disappoint someone.
Unwilling to leave what’s known.
Unwilling to surrender control.

Sacrifice confronts us with a jarring and hard truth:

Growth isn’t limited by ability — attachment will absolutely hold back your growth.

Abraham on the Mountain

Abraham didn’t lose Isaac. He laid him down. Sacrifice isn’t always about removal — sometimes it’s about surrender.

When you’re willing to place what matters most in God’s hands, He often returns it — transformed, re-ordered, or redefined. But the altar comes before the promise.

Sacrifice Clarifies the Climb

Sacrifice will sharpen vision. We have to decide what is really important

Sacrifice reveals what you trust.
It exposes what you cling to.
It clarifies what truly matters.

And once you release what weighs you down, something surprising happens: the climb feels lighter — even though it’s steeper.

Reflection: What Needs to Be Released?

1. What are you carrying right now that may be slowing your climb?
   
   
2. Is there something good that has become too heavy for this next season?
   
   
3. What might God be asking you to lay down before moving higher?
   
   
4. What could become possible if you released what no longer fits?
   
   

Closing Prayer

God, give me the courage to release what I cannot carry into the next season. Help me trust You with what I lay down, even when it costs me something. Lighten my load, sharpen my focus, and align my heart with where You’re leading me. Teach me that surrender is not loss — it is preparation for elevation.

Amen.