Last month in Nicaragua my team went to the island, Ometepe (the largest fresh water island in the world!). One of the fun things we were able to do on the island was hiking to a waterfall on a volcano! I really love hiking. I love being in nature. I love nature’s sounds and that my mind gets to wonder on whatever it needs to during the trudge. It was a time in the race that I felt easily agitated. I felt frustrated with people and I didn’t really know why. I just felt tired really. It was month 8 and honestly, from what I have heard, is that it’s normal to get a little burnt out around month 8. I wasn’t burnt out with the race, I was still excited to be here, but I think I was a little burnt out on people. So I wanted to use this hike to just relax, talk to God, and revive myself. Well… God really showed up on this hike! He spoke many things to me. I want to share a few of those things with you all! I think I could have come away with at least 50 sermons from that three hour hike! But if I wrote everything my post would be wayyy too long! ;D
I started hiking in front of the group that I was with (with my long legs this was not difficult). I also wanted to be away from people so I could think. I soon got into a groove with my hiking. Being pretty ‘task’ oriented, I pressed on faster and faster. The goal was to get to the waterfall so, I was going to get myself there, and I was going to do it quickly and efficiently. I found myself really working the inclines. I looked to the ground as I leaned forward to making the incline easier to climb. I pressed my hands to my thighs and pushed off to give myself a boost up the hills. As I was doing this on one of the inclines, God highlighted the fact that by climbing the inclines this way I wasn’t enjoying the scenery or anything else about the hike. I was only able to sit up straight and enjoy what was around me when it was flat and the hike was easy. But every time it got difficult I look down to make it easier on myself but I wasn’t able to enjoy the hike or the beauty that was all around me.
God then spoke to me that it is really easy for us all to do this with life. When everything is easy we see His glory, the beauty all around us. We walk up straight and enjoy life and what’s around us. But when things get hard, we focus down, one foot in front of the other, and we miss what is all around us. We miss what He might be showing us or what glories there are in that difficult time. Ouch. Yeah, so true.
I then got a picture of something I saw many times in Nicaragua. In Nicaragua there are a lot of horse drawn buggies. Horses work very hard here in Central America. We see working horses that are so scrawny you can see every rib sticking out as they pull carts full of materials and people. Many times I watched a horse try to get started with a big load. It’s sometimes very difficult for them to get started, so instinctually they put their heads down a little bit and press into their harness to help get started.
God showed me this memory and said that it is natural for that to happen. Like the horse, our natural instincts tell us to look down, to look at ourselves and to look inward to make it easier. When things get hard we focus on ‘us’ and nothing else. Not the people around us or what is ahead. Our focus because ourselves. God then challenged me by saying that He has called us to live above our natural instincts. That when things get hard He has called us to press forward with eyes forward; eyes on Him, on others, enjoying what’s around us, and looking to what’s ahead.
After coming to this realization I started to purposely make sure my head was lifted up during the inclines. As I looked around me during the up hills the beauty of God’s creation lifted my spirits. I joked with the Lord, thanking Him for His direction and patience with me. And lo and behold, climbing the inclines got easier!!! I was distracted by the scenery and talking to God that I didn’t realize the difficulty of my conditions. By not focusing on myself; the fact that I was tired, sweaty, and breathing heavy, I didn’t feel the difficult physical conditions. Everything became easier.
Soon afterwards it started raining. I mean Nicaraguan style raining, aka torrential downpour! As it rained and all hope of staying dry left me I looked around me and started laughing, then shouting and hollering to my friends who were coming up behind me. We took some fun selfies in the rain and continued on our hike in good moods. Some people could be very frustrated and mad with the fact that it was raining; every inch of us was wet, all of our stuff, and it made the hike more difficult because everything was muddy and slippery. But I saw the rain as a blessing from God. It was wet, helped cool our hot sweaty bodies, and brought us laughter.
You see, often times God’s blessing may look bad. It may be a torrential storm but you get to choose whether you view the blessing as a blessing or as a curse. Your response and what you make out of those situations is what you are going to see and what you are going to get.
Next time you are walking up a hill in your life, keep your eyes up. The best thing to do when things are hard is to look away from ourselves and focus on other people and more importantly on Jesus. The next time your life feels like a torrential storm, laugh and find the blessings the Lord brings.
