“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
(Lamentations 3:24)
When our small church was unable to meet corporately last Sunday due to a scheduling conflict in the elementary school where we meet, some of our friends and family decided to move our worship outdoors. Because of the unusual opportunity and the beautiful weather, we met to hike a portion of the Fiery Gizzard Trail in South Cumberland State Park.
The plan was to take a 9-mile loop that included a stop at a scenic overlook about half-way. However, due to a, um… slight disagreement about the direction to take after our stop, we wound up hiking down a steep gorge and back up again. Meanwhile, my intuition, which has been honed by playing, “Hey, guys, let’s see if we can get lost in the woods” with my cousins when we were children, dogged each step with a cerainty that we were headed the wrong way.
As we took the rough stone steps, I recall thinking that our navigator may be in some slight danger of mutiny if we had, in fact, taken a wrong turning. Not until we had climbed to the bottom of the ravine and back up the other side did we all stop and look at one another with the absolute certainty that we were not on the 4.5 mile loop back to our cars, but on the 8-mile stretch that headed to the trail’s southern end in another town.
Frustrated with himself (and possibly nervous about the possibility of violent mutiny), our navigator took off back towards the way we had come, as, with a few scattered murmurs, the rest of us collected ourselves and followed him.
It was absolutely glorious.
There is not much I love more than hiking, and this particular trail is on my personal top 10 list. Each step of the way back, I brought up the rear with my mom (who turns 66 today – happy birthday, Mama!). She had tweaked her knee somewhere in all the elevation change and had to take it a little slower. This was fine by me since it afforded an opportunity to drink in all the splendor of my Father’s handiwork.
All told, we hiked approximately 14.25 miles and by doing so answered the question of about how long we would need to plan to hike the Fiery Gizzard end-to-end (13 miles). It’s easily doable in a day, even leaving time for my beloved Nikon if we start early.
And as is my habit, the whole trek got me thinking about my walk with the Lord.
Some of our number who are not as giddily in love with the forests and hills as I found the last leg of our trek to be sheer misery. A fair amount of complaints were vocalized, as were several wistful wishes for extra water or a nice, juicy steak.
But for me, even the accidental detour was delightful. Even through the discomfort of thirst and the annoyance of arthritic feet, I enjoyed the quiet beauty of the woods, the surprising red-orange of occasional mushrooms, the steady plashing of the streams. In my experience, I have found that focusing on trouble only makes it that much harder to bear.
The difference, however, was not only focus but motive.
True, I chose to concentrate on the scenery rather than ponder hunger or the pain of sore feet. But the bigger reason for the disconnect in our various experiences is that I love hiking for hiking’s sake. A short jaunt into the woods, particularly after a long drive, leaves me feeling cheated, so an entire day spent reveling in the Master’s artistry was a rare and wonderful pleasure.
Likewise, my walk with the Lord – and for that matter, all my relationships – are affected by motive. If my motivation for following God’s trail is solely what I can get out of it, be it blessings, comfort, peace, provision, or anything else, then I stand to be disappointed when things take a wrong turning.
However, following my Messiah for His own sake – well, that, my friends is where joy in the journey is found; not merely joy because of circumstances but even joy despite them. There – in Him – is true and lasting peace.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.
(Isaiah 26:3-4)
I would love to take a 9 mile hike and worship God along the way. I am jealous.
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It was absolutely wonderful! My husband and I are already thinking about when we can go again and who we can get to pick us up on the other side. 😉
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My wife and I love hiking but haven’t had a lot of time to do it this summer.
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We haven’t, either. We both hope to start making more time for it in the near future. Life with teenagers can be busy and exhausting but for me, that 14-mile trek was more restful in some ways than being home and chilling!
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wow 14 miles. The most we ever walk is 10. Guess we can build up to it.
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It was an accidental 14 miles… but it was well worth it. The whole trail from north to south is 13 miles, so we ended up with a lot more than we’d bargined for!
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Hi, Heather. I nominated you for a Liebster Award. Should you choose to accept, please go here and follow the Rules: http://www.liebsterawards.com/
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Aww, thank you, Kim!
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Ironically, I also nominated you in an earlier post, but unlike you, I was too lazy to actually notify the people I nominated. Ah, well…
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❤
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Bob and I love hiking also! My “silver anniversary” gift was a really nice pair of hiking boots! Great post, super analogy about our focus and motivation. And major kudos to you and your mom.
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Awesome! Sounds like an anniversary gift I would love for sure. My husband and I did a portion of the trail on our anniversary a couple of years ago, and I’ve been itching to go back. My mom, well, she’s a real trooper! If I am blessed with half the energy she has at her age, I’ll be thrilled! 😉
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I agree–just as we would with anyone else we love, we need to invest in our relationship with the Lord for His sake, not just for ours. A good reminder!
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Well, I had plenty of time to contemplate it as we hiked. 😉
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Congratulations to your Mom Heather. I’m happy for her.
Except we take our way in following God, His directions are allows the best and even the seeming inconveniences that may come along are just what the Way requires of us so that we may know Him more.
Unlike your navigator, the Lord knows all the ways in and out and we can be “blindly” sure of committing our ways to Him.
Peace to you Heather.
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Amen to that, brother!
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Amen.
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