I love hiking. I love getting out in nature and being surrounded by trees! Trees may be my favorite thing….and water….and birds. I recently took a hike. I had a free day and decided to drive out to a State Park. It is a pretty well known park so I wasn’t sure I would be able to get in, but I did! It was so beautiful. The trees had turned to their beautiful fall colors and they looked magical. The way they hung over the river and made the most stunning reflection was just breathtaking. It was hard to take my eyes off of it.
I had been to this park before so I was kind of familiar with it. There was a particular hike that goes up a mountain and other ones that go by the water. I decided for my first one to hike up the mountain. Lemme just say, I’m not as in shape as I thought. I started and about 5 minutes later was sitting down with my trail mix and water catching my breath, haha. Good thing I didn’t wear makeup, ha. It woulda been gone! Then after a couple of more of those small breaks to breathe, I reached the top.
I love being on top of the mountain…you can see everything! It makes the long, painful, tiring, hard journey all worth it. In an instant you go from only being able to see just what’s in front of you to a massive expanse of endless beauty. Everything you worked so hard for becomes clear. I love how God’s beauty brings clarity.
Clarity is priceless.
Do you feel you’re in the middle of one of life’s many hikes? Maybe you feel you’ve been climbing the same mountain for a really long time and you just want to get to the top already. You just want to see what this whole long journey has been about. You want to see the beauty of it all instead of the countless little things blocking the view. Keep going. Take your breaks. Rest, eat, and drink in God’s Word. When it’s time, get back up, and keep taking steps. Remember, it’s not about how fast you get there.
Everyone’s path looks different. As I hiked there were families hiking together, there were friends hiking together, then there were people, like me, going up alone. However you are hiking, just keep going because the top only gets closer by taking steps. You may be crawling on your hands and knees when you get there, but somehow the harder the journey the more we seem to appreciate the reward. There is a reward, there is an end, there is a finish line. Don’t give up. Even if you fall and hurt yourself, keep going. Even if you come to a huge boulder that is blocking the way, find a way around it. Sometimes you will have to dig deep to find the will to keep going, but do it.
What He has to show you is worth it all!
