Shaped by the Land

Last Saturday we had a fun hike through Galilee, near where we had hiked before but on a completely different trail. Supposedly, this would be a leisurely two hour hike which many Israeli's take their children on. Sounds easy, right? Yeah, you should beware Israeli children. They kick butt on trails. I don't.

It was a beautiful trail - waterfalls, green hills, lots of trees, great view, gorgeous. In all honesty, it was the best hike I've ever gone on. Not because it was beautiful, not because I was having a blast, not because it was easy. It wasn't. But I've never learned so much as I did on this hike. A lot of things "went wrong". Meaning: they didn't go according to my expectations. And when things don't meet my expectations, I complain. A lot. And when I complain, God usually points out something obvious.

 

When I found myself hiking alone at one point I began to pray and list to God all the things that were going wrong and why I was unhappy: I'd run out of water, my fingers were swollen like little sausages and I could no longer bend them, I had no idea how much longer I'd be out there, it was hot, I had rocks in my shoes, I was hugging a mountain for dear life, and it was so late that there was no way I would make it to the bus in time to go swimming. I don't like hiking - I like swimming. The entire point of me coming on this hike was the condition that we would go swimming after it. Blah. blah. blah...

 

Cool thing about being alone: once you've run out of things to say, you have to listen to what God has to say. There is no way to drown him out or distract yourself. So then he says, "So you're thirsty, huh? And who calls himself Living Water?" Yeah, you do, God. But I'm still thirsty. "And who said that they wanted to be shaped by the land? To gain a better understanding of what is written in the Bible and the meaning it had to its authors?" Yeah, okay, that was me. Before I was thirsty. And before I had rocks in my shoes. When I was sitting in air-conditioning and drinking coffee. "So take the rocks out of your shoes. Isn't this what you wanted? This used to be a highway - this is the same road people traveled on for thousands of years. This is what it feels like to travel by foot. Alone. On a nice day when the sun is out. You are being shaped by the land." But I can't see the end. I don't know if I can make it. "You'll make it. Stop whining - it's not like no one knows where you are. Just keep going." But I can't see the end! I've been walking for four hours, twice as long as I thought. Where is the end?...silence.

 

Funny guy, God is. After about three minutes I came around a bend in the trail and could see the highway and the bus waiting for me. Still forty-five minute's walk, but I could see the end. Five munites later the trail ended and dumped me onto a dirt road. I laughed. Okay. I'm clearly going to make it. So I was thirsty for an hour or two. So reality didn't conform to my expectations (does it, ever?). What great pictures: I was hugging a rock for dear life. I was dry and was thirsty for water that wouldn't run out. I was on a journey and didn't know where the end would be, what it would be like, or what shape I would be in when I got there. I was hiking alone and had no idea when I would run across other hikers. It was nice to see other hikers, there were about 40 of us out there, but we all traveled at our own pace and didn't stay together for long.

 

 Hmm. Sounds a little like life. Sometimes we enjoy where we are, sometimes we focus on everything that isn't as we expect it or want it to be. But it's still beautiful. And God is still listening. And he is still wanting to shape us into a people who he can better use. We can talk to him whenever we want. But be aware that instead of changing our circumstances, he may just tell us to change our attitudes. He may be asking us to refocus and take our eyes off of ourselves and our own problems and recognize the journey we are on. He constantly gives us opportunities to be transformed out of the whiny people we feel like being and become a new people. It's not all about us, and once we realize that we can see that the journey itself is really beautiful.