I was all excited to sign up for a trip to see sunrise on Mt.Sinai.
It was almost a standard activity for those who come to Dahab for scuba diving and snorkeling. As I don’t really swim….I sort of came to Dahab to catch a ferry to Aqaba in Jordan, and also to attend this sunrise trip to Mt.Sinai.
The transportation and guide only cost 115 Egyptian pounds. ($19) But my main concern was whether I was able to start climbing at 1 a.m. for the sunrise at 5 a.m. I had only hiked once before, and that was in 2009 in India.
Luckily, I made a friend in the afternoon who also wanted to go. As I had a new friend to go with me…. I made up my mind to challenge myself.
The walk was hard. I just had to keep on going and trying. My friend encouraged me and believed in me. For him it was a cool experience, but for me, it was a walk to God’s mountain where Moses was given the tablets of stone.
The hike commenced at 1 or 2 a.m. Everyone came in groups. And our guide counted the number of people in my group and started walking. I believe I was always the last person. The walk, or hike, was exhausting. Considering I hardly slept.
I felt it was impossible, and I thought about giving up. I was so tired. I forgot why I wanted to take this trip. I could just see other people’s pictures online, no?
While I felt very limited with my own ability and my weakness (I don’t exercise…) in physical fitness, I was very fortunate to have a friend (new friend!) who supported and encouraged me all the time.
Finally, I reached the mountain top along with others. And I wasn’t the last person (yay!) We waited for about 30 minutes. When the first rays of sunrise started to show, we got excited.
Colors were added to the total darkness. I marveled at the change.
And soon, the sun came out. And then I realized what was surrounding me. Finally I could see.
It was a surreal experience to watch the sunrise from Mt. Sinai. While it’s not the best place to watch sunrise, the experience is humbling. We are mere mortals (some are fat and unfit mortals), yet God never failed to care and love us.
You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.(Psalm 8:5)
It’s an honor. It’s an honor to be able to come here, and it’s an honor to live on this earth. It’s an incredible honor that we have a God who doesn’t hide from us and is there to help and build a close to relationship with us. From the time of Abraham, God waited 400 years to have a people that belonged to Him. And when they were brought out from Egypt, God gave His commandants to Moses.
I realized, the commandments God gave was not to restrict us, but to teach us how to love God and be loved by Him.
Being only 21 years old, I had this oppurtunity to come here where God’s presence was felt. He is real, and He cares. He’s more than what I know. And He will be with me wherever I go. All I thought was one simple thing-
Do whatever you want with my life, but let me always love you. Thank you for loving me.
As I was surrounded by God’s power and love (and many tourists).
We were at the top of the mountains. It wasn’t just one mountain. The whole area was mountainous. Majestic. 
I felt so grateful to be up here. There were some vendors selling hot drinks and renting out blankets. I wondered what they feel watching sunrises here every day?
And I wasn’t joking with how difficult it was for me to come up here. It was almost a miracle. Rocks. Lots of rocks.
I was glad that I didn’t look at any picture before coming here. Had I knew, I would probably just give up the thought of coming here.
This was the kind of road we walked. It was mostly stairs. Some people came up by donkey or camel. But even that takes a lot of energy (and good balance).
Was it worth it? Definitely!
Since I did it, I think everyone else who doesn’t exercise would be able to do it. Of course, if now you feel like coming here, start exercising today!
After the walk, we sat near Monastery of Katherine to have breakfast. It was still so unreal that I managed the hike, in darkness, both ways.
Thank you God!
Update: 10/09/2015
I recently learned that a friend of mine from high school had abandoned his faith. Well, he really loved God. So it sort of hurt. And then I remember that I had this experience too about thinking about leaving my faith. I also had that phase when I felt God was imaginary and religion was made up by crazy people. I felt it was too suffocating to live that way. I felt I didn’t understand God and the part I didn’t understand scared me and annoyed me. I didn’t want to leave God, but I wanted a break or distance. And ironically, that happened after I had been to Israel twice (which I felt was quite religious).
Although I never had the chance to leave God. I love my mom too much, and she loves her God too much. I figured I cannot break my mom’s heart and even Jesus’ heart. That would be cruel. So I put my anger and confusion on halt, and continued with my life. This went on for 1.5 years… then I agreed that I would follow God, even though it’s full of risks and sometimes His work is beyond my logic. It’s okay. It’s okay because Jesus already made a sacrifice to cover our sins, what he’s given up for us also beyond logic.
I had to make a decision. Either I believe in Jesus’ blood, or I don’t. If I do, then I have to accept the uneasy part, the uncontrollable part of God that I was insecure about. There wasn’t a grey area in between. And yet I believe in Jesus’ blood. I believe He’s died for my sins. I believe He remains relevant to me, and it’s okay to let Him do weird things in my life that I don’t always approve.
So I pray that grace can bring us back to God. And that we will always remember the moments God spoke to us.
Update: Jan 11 2016
I was glad to discover that Nehamia Gordon (A Jewish Scholar, author of A Prayer to Our Father: Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer) had a very similar experience like I did up in Mt. Sinai! Except I didn’t know it was a fake one until I watched him saying that…. Well, watching him say his compelling story reminds me of my own. God is good, toda aba!
You can start from 58:27 to 1:00:30 (or to the end if you would like to hear a song!)
Traveling Mega
