This past week I had the opportunity to engage in one of my favorite activities: hiking.  For me, hiking is one of the few times when I get to be completely alone by myself for more than a few minutes.  I seem to spend a lot of time alone in the car, but that really isn’t the same (mainly because I usually have the music up really loud in the car.)  Every time I go, I have to resist the temptation to take my iPod, and I am always glad I do.  Just walking alone by myself for a couple of hours provides time to really delve deep into my heart and mind.  By the end of the hike, I usually have worked through some complicated or difficult things.

As I was on the trail this past week, I started thinking about how a hiking trail is a lot like life–particularly life with God.  Allow me to share a few of these with you.

The Lewis & Clark trails are located beside Hwy 94, which is a major road in the county.  Hundreds of cars drive by the trail head every day, but there are never more than three or four cars in the parking lot at a time (except for the weekends, when there tend to be as many as a dozen.)  My first thought was, “I wonder how many people drive by this little gravel parking lot and don’t know that it is the beginning of a really fantastic hiking trail?”  People just zoom by and are completely oblivious to what is literally next to them.  Of course, the same could be said of the physical and spiritual components of life.  So many people just go about their busy lives and never realize that right beside them is a spiritual world.  We can become completely oblivious to what lies beyond our field of vision.  It reminds me of the time when Elisha prayed that the eyes of his servant would be opened and then he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire (2 Kings 6).

As I began walking on the trail, the very first thing I noticed was that I had forgotten one very important item: bug spray.  I thought that because it was a cool day that the bugs wouldn’t be that bad.  Was I ever wrong!  The mosquitoes were so bad that if I stopped walking at a very brisk pace, I would immediately be overwhelmed with hundreds of them on my whole body.  When I would get a little tired and slow down, those tiny bugs provided serious motivation to keep moving.  I had forgotten that hiking in the woods along the river isn’t like sitting my back yard or walking in the park.  That made me think that many people begin their journey with God completely ill prepared for what may lie ahead.  They think that it is just as easy as walking in the park when it really isn’t.  While following God certainly has it’s share of mountain top experiences, getting to those mountain tops can be difficult.  In fact, it can be so difficult that if you’re ill-prepared for it, you can easily become discouraged and turn around.

About half way through, the trail splits in two.  One way is the regular 5 mile loop, but the other way is an extra 3 miles.  Nearly everyone stays on the short trail.  Normally I do as well.  This day, though, I had all the time in the world to hike for as long as I wanted.  I stood at the split in the trail and debated.  The short loop is well used and much shorter.  The long loop is rarely used, much more rugged, and at times overgrown.  As I turned left onto the long loop, the trail became much more narrow and at time I had to really focus to actually follow it.  I began to think of all the people who had walked along this trail to mark it and create it.  While it is easy to stay on the wide path, at some point someone wasn’t satisfied with it and began to go deeper into the forest.  They wanted a much more intense experience, which is exactly what God calls us to.  He doesn’t ask us to follow him and have a nice little life.  He says, “Pick up your cross and follow me.”  God calls us to leave the safety of the known and trust Him to lead us into the unknown.

Eventually, the trail leads from the creek bottoms to the cliff tops overlooking the Missouri River.  The view from the top of the cliffs is absolutely amazing.  Hawks soar on the winds.  Ships float on the river.  The eye can see for miles.  Such a view is not possible, though, without walking through the depths of the forest.  I began to think about how walking with God is so much like hiking on the trail.  There will be steep climbs, humid creek bottoms, stinging mosquitoes, and plenty of leg cramps.  There will also be views from the cliff that will take your breath away which are not possible from the parking lot.