Walking the Path You Can't See

Behind my apartment, there is a tiny trail that shoots up a hill.  From there is a trail system that almost nobody knows about, unless you happen to live close by.  I have had many walks on those trails but some of my best walks happen at night.  As I go up the hill, the darkness envelops me until I can't see anything.  I walk the trails without being able to see where I'm walking, just trusting I'm still on the path.  I start out walking very slow.  I am unsure of the path and don't want to take a wrong step.

As my eyes adjust to the darkness and my feet find good footing, I begin to see the path.  It is not clear like in the day, but I see enough that I begin to walk with confidence.  I can make out the tree branches where I need to duck, the roots that could trip me up, or the fallen tree that I need to step over.  On these walks God teaches me about the eyes of faith.  "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

At first you stumble around in the darkness and you are unsure of every step.  But with practice and action, the trail becomes more clear and the journey is breathtaking.  You are confident because God is with you, you know He is by your side.  You feel His presence so clearly.  But you have to start walking first.  Those first few steps of faith will be like walking a narrow path in pitch black.  But as you take each step of faith, your spiritual  eyes will adjust and you will begin to see the path that God has prepared for you.

Thoughts from a Graveyard

Sometimes, to clear my head, I wander somewhere in the outdoors.  One day a while back, I was wandering through a graveyard close to where I live.  I had been studying the book of Ecclesiastes at the time and it played heavily in my thinking as I sat down and began writing:

"Love knows not its depth until the hour of separation" - A random gravestone in a graveyard

The older gravestones have no flowers.  A generation passes and these people are forgotten by the world.  There is nobody left to remember them or how they lived.  Everybody they had known in their life are now gone with them.  Vanity.  Our time here is only borrowed.  We are here for a short time and then we die.  Everybody I'll ever come in contact with will die with me.  Whatever difference I make in their lives, they will still die like the rest.

We can't handle that.  Something in our souls pine for eternity.  Death in this world is a certainty.  But what of our souls?  Every face is different.  Every personality.  The Lord meant something specific when He made each of us.  Our souls long for freedom but we are trapped in these decaying bodies.  Jesus overcame death and raised others from the dead!  While many things have been forgotten by the world, this has not.  His resurrection sparked a revolution that continues 2000 years / 25 lifetimes later!

Back Log

It has been over five months since I've written here.  But I have been writing plenty in my journals.  I will share some things from there for a few weeks to get me back in the habit of updating this blog.  Sometimes, there is so much I want to share that it feels overwhelming and then I don't share anything at all!  But I will start small and humbly with this little post and we will see where this blogging goes from here. ;)  

I am leaving for Guatemala on January 12th.  Look for information on that too!