Hubby and I went hiking with our kids this past weekend. It was a new and novel experience of role reversal. My daughter had wanted to go hiking, so we said “Sure!” She picked the hike, and we came along for the fun.
When the kids were little, hubby and I would often load the kids in the car and take off on some weekend adventure.
Being little, our kids didn’t really know where we were headed. Neither did they have any idea of what the hike would be like that we would be taking. Nor did they have any concept of how long the drive would be to get there … nor how long the hike would be … nor what would be at the end of the hike (most likely a waterfall of some sort).
This past Saturday morning hubby and I met up with our kids at the rendezvous point, then we headed off on winding curvy roads taking us far out into the middle of nowhere. “This must be what it felt like for the kids when they were little,” I thought … as the winding curvy roads led us far off the beaten path into an area of our state I had never been before.
The winding curvy roads led us north, and eventually through the small town of Granite Falls, then turned east and kept going. We made it to the tailhead at 8am, and already the trailhead parking lot was full! … with the overflow lot filling up fast!
The hike we were going to take was Lake Twenty-Two. I basically knew nothing about this hike other than the kids had done it before, and it led to a pretty lake at the end. Oh, and evidently it must be a really popular hike!
As I was getting out of the car, my daughter asked me if I had water for the hike. I held up my water bottle and said, “Yes! I had my water.” To which she immediately replied, “You need two.” This was the very first indication I had that this hike was probably going to be more strenuous than I had anticipated.
We headed up the trail, full of enthusiasm! From the get-go the trail went up, up, and up. I expected it to level out in a bit, with varied terrain along the way. But no. The hike up to Lake Twenty-Two is straight up … all the way!!
This right here is what faith looks like!
Faith is hearing Jesus ask us: “Will you follow me?” And responding: “Yes! I will.”
Faith is not knowing where you are headed … just like I didn’t have any idea where we were headed when we drove off on winding curvy roads out into the middle of nowhere. But I trusted my kids! They knew exactly where we were headed … and they would get us exactly where we needed to go. In the same way, Jesus knows exactly where we are headed as we journey by faith with Him.
Faith is not knowing what the “hike” will be like … just like I didn’t have any idea what the hike to Lake Twenty-Two would be like. All I knew is that my kids had done this hike before, and it led to a beautiful lake. I trusted my kids!
My daughter had picked this hike on purpose … because she knew my stamina and physical limits, and she knew that this hike was one I would be able to do. And she knew that the reward at the end would be epic!
In the same way, when it comes to following Jesus by faith, we don’t have any idea what the “hike” will be like. All we know is that Jesus has gone before us … so He knows the trail! Jesus chooses exactly what “hike” to take us on … because Jesus knows us! Jesus knows our stamina, Jesus knows our limitations and weaknesses. And Jesus knows that even though this “hike” might be really difficult, He knows we can do it!
And the reward at the end will be epic! So we trust Jesus! We follow Jesus and hike the trail He leads us on, by faith!
When you are hiking up, up, and up … you lose sense of how far you have come, or how much farther you still have left to go. It’s just endlessly up, up, and up! But even in the exhaustion of continually climbing, the hike to Lake Twenty-Two was really fun! … because of who we were hiking with! We were hiking with our kids! We chatted the entire way up the trail! We chatted about anything and everything! This is how relationship is built!
When it comes to following Jesus by faith, this is what it looks like! It’s an uphill climb! It’s hard! It’s exhausting! There will be times we need to pause, panting! It will take everything out of us! Our heart will be pounding from the exertion of the climb! We will be dripping sweat! We will need to stop and guzzle water!
But even in the exhaustion of continually climbing, our faith “hike” is really fun! … because of who we are hiking with! We are hiking with Jesus! We chat with Jesus the entire way up the trail! We chat about anything and everything! This right here is how relationship is built!
And as we hike, we can’t help but gaze in wonder over the vast expanse spreading out before us! Amazing! And to think, we hiked this far up! Who would have thought!! When it comes to faith, we never would have dreamed we could have done something this hard!
The Lake Twenty-Two hike registered on my phone health app as climbing a total of 62 flights of stairs, and walking over 20,000 steps / 7.7 miles. No way! Did I really do that!!
This is what faith looks like!
Faith looks like trusting and following Jesus on the “hike” … no matter what … and being amazed where you wind up at the end!
