This is going to be a good long one. Grab a coffee and some tissues. You’re gonna need them!
I had the privilege to go on a trek in the Himalayan mountains for a couple of days. We hiked around 20-25 miles, 200+ flights of stairs and through some of the jungle. It was one of the greatest things that I have ever done!
I had always wanted to hike in the Himalayas. I wanted to see the mountains, the rivers and streams, the wildlife, the people and the valleys. I simply wanted to see God’s beauty in the mountains. Hiking in the Himalayas has always been a dream of mine and something on my bucket list. Because of the grace and love of God, my dream came true!
On this trek, God moved mountains! He moved big mountains in my life. He moved things that were holding me back from him and things that I was holding onto. He tore down the defensive walls that I had placed to guard myself. He tore them down and flooded my heart with love, grace and confidence.
The first day of trekking was so much fun. I loved hanging out with everyone and looking at the mountains. When I saw that first mountain on our trek, my heart was filled with joy. I loved looking at how God had designed each of the peaks and all of the trees of the jungle around us. It was a sight of Gods beauty.
When we got to the place that we were staying at for the night, I couldn’t believe where I was. We had one of the greatest views that I have ever seen. We could see the valleys below us and the mountains in front of us. It was truly an amazing place.
We got up around 5 o’clock to watch the sun rise at the top of an outcrop on the mountain that we were on. Everyone was sitting watching the sunrise. I decided to walk over to the side so I could be alone with my thoughts. I kept thinking about how God created all of this. Then I started to think about how I got here.
It is hard to look back at my past and see where I have come from. Its hard to see myself in high school. Its hard to see myself just chugging through life. It’s hard to see things that I had done. It is hard to see myself in one of my past realationships. It’s hard for me to look back on the day that I lost faith in God. It’s hard to look back on that same day, and see him save me even though I had lost my hope and faith in him. God has done many amazing things for me. He has saved me from many things in life.
I started to tear up when I realized that God has given me so much grace and love throughout my life. Even after everything that has happened in my life. After this realization, I thought of my grace and love. I thought about how I don’t always show people grace and love. I thought of how I had been holding onto so many things from my past and even some current things. After thinking about these things, I extended my hands out and said to God, “I am here. There are so many things that I am holding onto that I need help to get rid of. I can’t do it by myself. I am not strong enough on my own. Lord, I need your help. Please help me. Show me the way. Show me the path that I need to go down.”.
After I said this to God, the sun crested over the ridge. I felt the suns warm rays on my face and I felt at peace. I had a feeling of relief and a feeling of a lot of weight being lifted off of my heart. I felt the pain and regret that I have been carrying around for years be taken away like it was only a feather. I felt true peace and joy.
I spent the rest of the day thinking about this encounter with God. I couldn’t believe what had happened. I was singing songs to myself, thinking about my family, thinking about my future and thinking about how I was in the Himalayas. I had pure joy that day!
The next day we walked to the bus that we were going to take back to our hotel. One of the girls had twisted her ankle on the way down the mountain. Luckily, I packed my tactical First Aid kit. I wrapped her ankle up and spent the rest of the hike at her side. We talked about many diffrent things. We talked about everything from what food from home we missed, our favorite things to do at home, our family’s, our futures and even how we would build our dream homes. It was a great series of conversations. After talking with her, she said that I seemed diffrent. She said that I seemed happy and very confident.
Of course, I had absolutely no clue of what she was talking about other than what had happened up on the mountains. When all of us came together as a squad a couple of days later, many of my squad mates were telling me that I seemed diffrent and that it was very noticeable. I realized that God had changed me on those mountains. I wasn’t the same man that went up there than I was when I came down. It’s ironic how when I was in the mountains, God moved mountains in my life and heart. It makes me chuckle when I think about it.
There is a song that I would encourage all of you to listen to. Its called “Different” by Micah Tyler. It is a great song. He sings about wanting to be different and wanting God to change him and his heart. It’s a song that I relate to a lot. I personally like the acoustic version the better.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. I know it was long, but I wanted to put my thoughts on here. I hope that you enjoyed it. This is just one testament of what God is doing in my life right now.
Thank you, Trev
