Hiking In Grace & Capturing My View

Finding the Y in the trail… In the dark.

03.30.09

So there we were the three of us hiking in the dark.

We were on a fire road at the end of a long day of hiking.

We still had two miles to go and all we had to see with was a single flashlight. We knew there was a Y in the road and we were looking for it. I was the only one of the three that even knew there was a marker and a Y and what it looked like. We needed to find the marker and read it so we would know which direction led to the parking lot.

This week I am in that same place again, spiritually speaking. I know there is a Y in our trail coming up and we need to know which way to go. I feel like I am searching in the dark again. Now, the Word of God is our flashlight and I don’t know what the marker looks like but Jesus does and he knows where the Y in the trail is. He is going to lead us to it and show us which way to choose. We just need to trust him like my two friends had to trust me.

Today I stepped into a situation that felt like I walked into a lion’s den. Just as those words escaped my lips as I said it to my husband, the Holy Spirit whispered to me a reminder that Daniel came out of that lion’s den; alive and unscathed and even more confident in his God that is so faithful.

A small reminder that I just need to trust my Savior, he loves me so much, he already laid his life down for me.

Riches

03.21.09

When God led the children of Israel out of Egypt he did it in such a way that he blessed them in the process. Not only did he set them free from their bondage of being slaves he orchestrated it so that they spoiled the Egyptians at the same time. The Egyptians GAVE their riches to the Israelites! They were slaves but God set them at liberty and gave them the riches of the Egyptians. (Read Exodus 12)

Psalm 119:133-134 says, “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.” (emphasis is mine)

The psalmist is asking for deliverance from iniquity. Often it is not our own iniquity that we need deliverance from. Sometimes it is other peoples’ iniquity that is oppressing us or that we are in bondage to. We can choose NOT to be oppressed or suffer in bondage any more and break that stronghold in our lives but we need to be willing to follow God’s leading. Just as the children of Israel had to follow the fire by night and the cloud by day, we must hike after Christ as our trail guide.

There is a place on my favorite trail up Old Rag Mountain where the trail brings you to the bottom of a crevice and the next blaze is literally halfway up the rock wall a good ten feet above your head. You must go up. There is no other way. However, in the crevice of oppression or bondage, we have Christ as our fellow hiking companion, our trail guide, who goes before us and shows us where the hand holds are and the footholds are to get us up that wall and deliver us to freedom that awaits us at the top. Quite often he sends along help in the form of another Christian to give us a hand up. I know this to be true. To be crystal clear about it, this has happened to me and others I know, not only in the literal physical sense of climbing this particular crevice on Old Rag Mountain, but also in the spiritual sense of climbing out of the crevice of oppression imposed on us by others.

When God brings us out of bondage or captivity into liberty, we come out with a high hand as the Israelites did. We come out with the riches of knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and compassion for others who are suffering the way we have. These riches can be used to help others out of the same experiences that Christ sets us free from.

I am thankful for the riches of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that I am gaining in this process. God is giving them to me for a purpose. I just don’t know what that is yet. God gave the riches of the Egyptians to the Israelites for a purpose. It was not until God gave Moses the instructions to build the tabernacle that the purpose was realized. So for now I will climb after my guide and soak up the riches he is giving me by his grace as he leads me up out of this crevice.

He leads. I follow.

Hiking

03.16.09

The term ‘walk’ in the Bible refers to our daily journey with Christ. For me, the term ‘walk’ brings visions of leisurely strolling along. In my mind that does not accurately describe my walk with the Lord. My life is better described as a good strenuous hike.

A good strenuous hike will test your limits. God tests our limits in a good way. The testing is meant to teach us a lesson to make us stronger Christians. (James 1:12) When it gets hard the Lord always provides a way of deliverance from the testing or trial. (1 Corinthians 10:13) Even when it seems to make no sense to us we must always remember “that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

This blog is to track my trek and share the lessons he is teaching me as we hike along. I am so thankful to have such a faithful hiking companion in my Lord Jesus. He is faithful to lead and guide me along my way. The presence of his Holy Spirit is ever teaching me. (1 John 2:27, 1 Corinthians 2:12, 16)

Are you curious about all those verses?

Look them up for yourself and let God speak to you through his Word.

Others can point you to the truth and point to the blazes along the trail but the choice to follow them is completely up to you.