Going for a hike?
This week my niece, along with her cousin, began their hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. From Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Crest Trail is 2,650
The initial appeal to me would be to marvel at God’s handiwork. While our hearts will always yearn to stand in wonder before God’s creation, that desire can only be satisfied in eternity. Better to pursue here what will not be possible there.
Secondly, who wouldn’t want to spend 5 months with apparently no bigger burden than getting from point A to point B? No timetable, no housecleaning, no morning commute, no bill paying, no tiresome routine. Oops; again, only in heaven when our desires are purified will we finally get to do all we want, with time to spare.
Thirdly, there is the desire to challenge your body, to make it do what seems impossible to do. But we kid ourselves here. What is harder to do, walk through deserts, rain forests and snow-bound trails, or repeatedly get out of our easy chairs to redirect an errant child? If you want to test your body, dare it to get up cheerfully every 2 hours with your newborn, keep pace with your toddler, roller-skate with your preteen and swim laps with your teen. This challenge transforms what appeared to be a strictly physical test into a more vital test of the heart.
Finally, hiking the PCT is a self-test of resourcefulness. Faced with overwhelming trials, could I survive? If this is your motivation let us suggest an alternate challenge with an eternal focus, offer respite care to a family whose child has autism or other challenges greater than your own. This month marks a year that our family has been involved in this endeavor and we speak from experience when we say your body, mind and spirit will be tested like they have never been tested before.
Every unfulfilled desire we have, whether for things God has not given us or for opportunities God directs us away from, is a wonderful opportunity to examine our heart, rather than to indulge in covetousness or self-pity. By asking why our heart longs to follow each desire, and pushing it through the filter of God’s word, we will be able to see more clearly the root of our motives. As our family discussed the PCT hike, when we took away those desires that will be satisfied in heaven and those that are strictly self-centered, the attraction faded.
“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:16
