“Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.” Psalm 25:4, 5 NLT
The leader of our hiking group had been there before. She excitedly described our destination as a mountain meadow littered with alpine flowers surrounded by pine trees. A view to the glistening lake below and the mountains rising in the distance would cap the visual delight once we arrived at the Glacier Glades. It sounded great as I love being in the great outdoors! Knowing that the round trip would take about two hours, I packed my knapsack accordingly with two water bottles, camera equipment, a snack, raincoat, and cell phone. However, my confident feeling of readiness was shattered when I heard the word: “bears”. My heart stopped! Oh, my! I had not even thought about bears and certainly had not packed any bear spray. Now what? It was too late to back out so I put on a brave face. We determined that if we made noise with loud voices and by stepping on crackling dry leaves and branches, the bears would not approach us. Now, confident of our equipment and plans, we headed off on our mission to find the Glades.
As any experienced adventure leader will attest, successfully reaching the desired destination requires not only proper equipment and plans but also knowing the right path. In the first aspect, we were ready – knapsacks were packed with the necessary tools and last minute precautions were taken. However, in the second aspect, we had one slight problem: our leader could not quite remember exactly where to find the right path. For sure, it was just “over there”! Trustingly, we followed her onward and upward. Sometimes we followed major pathways, sometimes deer trails, and sometimes just tramped through the underbrush trying to avoid stinging nettle, blackberry thorns and whipping branches into each other’s faces. When we were not looking down watching our footsteps or looking sideways scanning the bushes for bears, we looked up to see how close we were to the top of the hill. “Oh, it should just be over this next ridge,” our leader encouraged us. However, at the top of the ridge all we saw was more forest stretching upward to yet another hilltop. “Um, maybe we’ll see the meadows over that hill.” This pattern of journeying toward a destination followed by disappointment repeated several times as we trekked about in search of the Glacier Glades.
As the hike lengthened in time, I reflected that this experience on the mountain was similar to my walk with Jesus Christ – full of ups and downs, wandering on and off the path, and looking over my shoulder at bear-like threats hovering nearby. A recurring theme in my life is one of financial struggle. At one such time, in the 90s, we operated a small business with sales that were seasonally cyclical. During the slow periods, we could not pay all our bills and relied heavily on credit. Definitely, it was a struggle to meet the needs of the business as well as our family of six. At one point in the valley of financial despair, I even wanted to apply for social assistance but my husband preferred that we do everything humanly possible to make ends meet and rely on God for the rest. With God’s help we kept the bear of bankruptcy at bay and over time our financial situation improved. Now, whenever financial pressures growl at me, I rely on God for the reality check lesson, keep my credit card in my pocket, and trust Him in all circumstances.
Wherever my walk with Jesus goes, I access the tools and habits in my “faith-sack” that keep me focused on Him. Reading the Bible reveals the nature of God and His guidelines for righteous living. Praying in faith and seeing God’s blessings in the answers removes doubt and encourages trust. Listening to His Spirit in my heart allows humility, compassion, and love to pour out. Focusing on His power and might removes fear and creates security. Accepting Jesus as my saviour gives me hope for a glorious future with Him in heaven. Even though there are hills and valleys, wanderings, threats, and disappointments on my faith journey, using the tools and habits of my “faith-sack” on a daily basis equips me to stay on God’s path eventually leading me to my God-ordained destination.
Back to our hike. Just as we were almost ready to give up our search and head back, we stumbled out of a grove of trees onto the Glacier Glades. “Hooray!” The promised scenic view rewarded our persistence. The many ridges we had climbed were now a distant memory. After a little while taking in the sights, we headed back to our car, arriving safely thankful that we had not seen any bears!
Lord, I thank you for providing me with tools to use on my faith journey. I pray that my readers will also take advantage of these in order to stay on your path and grow closer to you. May our relationship with you grow deeper and stronger. Amen.
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