Wednesday's Word - Tough Trails

Hello All,

Don't you just like how some words easily lend themselves to a play on words? It's quite uncanny, but we'll dive more into that in a minute. This past weekend I did something I've never done before: I went on a 16 mile hike. Not that I consider myself a hiker, but as I was with friends, it seemed like a good idea at the time. We went to the Sabine National Forest in east Texas to the Trail Between the Lakes. The cool thing was the larger lessons I learned during the trial, ooops! I mean trail. It took a while simply becoming oriented to the markers presented by the trail. There were these little yellow squares, nailed to trees that told you the right direction. Sometimes they were spaced fairly close together, at other times it was impossible to see the next one. After a while of only looking for the yellow signs, we noticed that there were also metallic signs nailed to trees that also let you know you were on the right path. There were more metallic signs than yellow ones, but there were also times where even the metallic ones were sight for sore eyes. Travelling further, it also became somewhat apparent that some of the fallen trees were cut to have a piece removed - this also let you know you were on the right track. And lastly, certain parts of the trial, ooops! I mean trail, were well worn, serving as "good" direction. We figured out most of the markers together, but at a certain point, they continued on and I had to go it alone. It would seem easy as a return trip, but not as much as I'd hoped. I had to remember what I'd learned and apply it in my own situation without any other reassurance or encouragement. Here are a few lessons I learned -
No matter what, fundamentally, there was still the path. It was hard to navigate at times. A hurricane had come through the area recently and scattered things a good bit in some areas, but with enough patience and careful observation, I knew I was looking for something that was still there to be found and to lead me to safety. As I walked the trial, I thought about all the things that had affected the trail and wondered, God? why have You allowed the trail to become so cluttered. Scripture came to my mind

Matthew 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.

So with all that happened, fundamentally, there was still the path. God may 'allow' the difficulty to persist, but the path still exists.

Proverbs 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

I walked on....There was a certain part of the trail with no yellow or metallic signs, few fallen trees and not much of a worn path. This was tough. I, again, thought of how wonderful The Word of God is, but there should be fine print that says "Individual results may vary". (at least when it comes to the trail) . Again, Scripture came to mind
　
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

I thought about the trail markers and wondered. Is it faith that leads me to the next marker? The answer was "No! Faith is what makes you believe that there is a path and that the path leads somewhere good. The thing that gets you to the next marker is obedience."

So by the end of it, I'd fallen in the water almost chest deep, muddied my new ankle boots up to the knee, scratches from thistles and thorns, carrying my heavy burden, ooops! I mean backpack, and my thighs felt likesomebody had shot hot marbles into them. I thought, why did I even commit to this darn trial, oops! I mean trail. I thank God for The Scripture that brought the conclusion of the matter.

1 Peter 1:7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:


I could do nothing but lay down my burden, I mean backpack and thank God for the strength to have made it through. It became all too clear at that moment that with all that I had done, He still did more; He made good trail, He keeps it from becoming totally decimated and still uses it to teach me about Him in a way I'd never seen before. Well worth it.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:


Happy Trails,
Cros