Here are a few lessons learned while hiking:
I’m a man which you are all aware of hopefully. Men like obstacles and mountains in most every sense of the word. We like to conquer things and we like to get pushed to our brink. We like the feeling of accomplishment and there is an enjoyment of doing things that people just don’t do. Well, things tends to be the same in the spiritual realm as well as the physical. I wonder how many times I’ve been distracted by mountains to climb when my destination had little to do with them. How many times have I been enticed to conquer something or fight a battle that wasn’t mine to fight? How often do I try to climb my way up just to have a look around and realize I have to head right back down?
The fact of the matter is that if we keep our eyes fixed on where we need to go, the safest and quickest way to get there is most often through the valleys and around the mountain. It rarely includes going over the mountains which holds far less appeal to most of us travelers. I’d dare say that sometimes in my life I am even disappointed when I don’t have the mountains to climb.
I was also reminded this past week that the most dangerous part of climbing a mountain is often the way down and not the way up. On the way up it gets to a point where you just have to commit and after that it’s just a matter of time before you are there. Sure, you may have to check out a few routes and the footing may not always be the best but because the peak is still ahead of you, you can always find the strength to press on towards your goal. However, coming down rarely holds the same mystique that going up does. We rarely realize that once we’ve gotten up the mountain we have merely got halfway. There have been plenty of times when I have been careless coming down off of a “spiritual high” and plummeted off of a cliff by the most “subtlest” of attacks. The truth is that this is the part of the journey least thought about often and tends to hold some of the most dangerous footing…
While valleys often hold the safest and quickest paths to your destination, there are often mountains that you just can’t quite get around. There are times when it truly is in your best interest to climb up. The purpose is not so much so that you can stay on the mountain top. Rather, it is so that you gain perspective of both where you have come from and where you need to go. There have been many times when I have been tested in this life and the results have shown me where I have fallen short, where His grace was sufficient and which direction I need to be headed in the future. These moments of clarity can feel few and far between but if you can hold to them, they can guide you during some of the rough patches where the only thing you can trust is what you last saw…or heard.
A guide needs to go the pace of the group and not at his own. There were a few times where I wanted to scale the mountain as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, I took for granted that not everyone would know the path…or remember it even if they had already passed that way before. We had a couple of guys and girls who ended up taking not so desirable routes partially because of separation while climbing. Thankfully nothing happened to their safety but you can’t leave stragglers.
Going alone is not always the safest option but it’s usually better than not going at all. I feel like this could be a touchy topic for a few reasons but ideally it is always best to go with someone. I don’t think that it was an accident that Jesus sent the disciples off in twos and we often use that as a biblical guide…but honestly, there are also a number of times in the bible where people were called to go it alone. Sometimes I don’t have the best discretion as when I ought to go alone and when I ought to go with others…Either way, I’d rather face the journey with only Him than to not face the journey at all while waiting for others to accompany me. (for the record, I ought to have had another guy join me when going up to find the girls and I understand that but ultimately I’m more thankful that they got down safe than anything.)
In Song of Solomon ( I believe) it talks about waiting for Him more than watchmen wait for the morning…When it is dark and cold, there is some sort of breath-taking relief of seeing the dawn. The beautiful thing is that every night has a dawn in both the physical and spiritual. Seriously, that’s a good point! Haha, anyway do I wait and hope for Him with that type of expectation? If so, how good will it be when I finally see Him coming. In the times to come the stars in the sky will fall and the sun will be turned dark…there will be darkness…complete darkness!!! That is why the gift given to one of the seven churches in Revelation is so beautiful. It says that to those who overcome, they will be given the bright and morning star. This is Jesus…later He even calls himself such. When the world is at it’s darkest moment in more ways than I know, the Spirit and the bride will say come and He will be roused from His seat in Heaven and come with a raging passion we’ve never dreamt of. It is then that His light will literally and figuratively come in so much power that words have yet to be created to describe it…Do I long for that day? Do you?
Even the moon is a fading shadow when you’re facing the sun. It’s still there but when the true source of light shows up, everything else just pales in comparison. Likewise we are often the moon reflecting His light but when we decide to face the Son, all that we have and all that we are is merely a fading shadow seen dimly…
