Yesterday and today, me and 19 others hiked up Volcán Acatenango to see Volcán Fuego. The journey was hard. It was constantly up, up and more up, until the last little bit. It was a journey. Fog, slippery paths, and seeing the large mountain we were going to climb were all challenges. The journey took us about 4 1/2 – 5 hours to get to base camp. It was really challenging.
I think that the hike is a great depiction of what a life with God can sometimes look like. It may seem like everything may be going against you when you are on your walk with the Father. There are things that slip you up: You get distracted with how difficult the situation looks, you stumble on objects/things in the way, or you are just fearful of the unknown. You turn your eyes from the one you are running to and you try to figure everything out. This in turn causes you to lose hope in the beautiful hope you have in Christ.
Yet all along the way you forget of the sights of the journey and the community that surrounds you. You forget all of the things your Great God has done for you. You forget the one that will never leave you or forsake you.
If you walked that same journey with open eyes, depending on God, you would uncover all of those “hidden things” you never saw on your journey. You could depend on your community for support, depend on your Father that loves and cares for you, and not lose hope in your Great God who is right with you through it all. You then remember all of those special things that happened and see how you grew in your faith.
For the hike, there were moments like this. When talking with friends or just being in their company, time went by fast. There were some down hills and several breaks that we could rest at. The creation of God surrounded us and awed us at how beautiful everything was.
Finally we got to the base camp. We were done with the hard journey. The view of Volcán Fuego and the horizon of the surrounding volcanoes was breathtaking. The view was completely worth the time and effort.
Sometimes you may never see or understand the outcome of your walk with the Lord, but how will you take those things and use it for the Glory of your Great God? You are running for the prize and calling of your Lord.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2
I will post pictures of the hike soon.
