A MOUNTAIN HIKE WITH GOD
Read Time: 5 min 42 sec
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I know not the way God leads me, but well do I know my Guide.”
Martin Luther
THE GOOD STUFF
4W LIFE DEVOTIONAL 03: WALK
This past December, after the isolation of 2020, and with winter still looming far into our field of vision, my family decided on an impromptu adventure to the great outdoors. We were pleased to find inexpensive flights to Colorado and decided to go for it! We departed with great expectations.
The hike to Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park was at the top of our list of pursuits. We had heard it was beautiful and seemed popular enough that even my inexperienced family could tackle it. Up for the challenge, the drive into the mountains only fueled our anticipation as each of us mentally created a whole lofty set of ideas about how the day would unfold. Even though we had an abundance of resources to guide our journey, our day unfolded much differently than we expected. Let’s just say we walked a lot more than we needed to! We saw a lot of magnificent things and although we can giggle about the day now, it was honestly a pretty frustrating journey.
Meditating on these missteps brings to mind our journey of walking with Christ. Passion, gear, advice from others, and a well-traveled trail didn’t prove all that beneficial. They could have been helpful, but our little, unyielded decisions, zeal for the sights, and preconceived notions contributed to a lot of wandering. Frustrated and exhausted, and perhaps a little cranky, we made it to the top just before dark with a clear understanding that trusting our own clearly limited understanding wasn’t a great plan of attack.
When I think about what would keep my spiritual walk on target, my mind goes immediately to our perfect example, Jesus, teaching us to pray and really – how to journey (Matthew 6:9-13). Some careful consideration of these familiar words sums up a simple, faithful walk of obedience for both the child and the seasoned traveler.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father...
knowing and recalling His character considering how we relate to Him and each other as His family
Who art in heaven...
exchanging the temporal for the heavenly
Hallowed be thy name...
adoring and longing to worship Him for who He is
Thy kingdom come...
actively pursuing His kingdom, His rule, and reign
Thy will be done...
committing and surrendering to His way over ours
Give us this day our daily bread...
resting in our dependency on His provision for our needs and limitations
Forgive us our trespasses...
recognizing our debts and returning again and again to Him for mercy
As we forgive those who trespass against us...
extending the mercy we’re so freely given
Lead us not into temptation...
guarding against self-sufficiency and relying on His covering for deliverance from temptation
Deliver us from evil
seeking to be purified from our own evil compulsion as well as what may come into our life
The Lord continues to be so very patient with me, as my walk with Christ still so often resembles that little mountain hike with my family. But it’s also less complex than I used to believe it to be.
How is your walk with Christ going? Do you feel lost or hopeless - like this journey is not what you expected? Maybe you feel unsatisfied despite an abundance of resources, unmotivated due to missed expectations or fearful from painful past experiences.
When I follow Jesus’ footsteps, surrendering more and more to His voice with a simple, “Yes, I trust you Lord” the destination is always in view. The reward is His presence and His leading takes me to simple, mundane, unexpected, painful, marvelous places my own mind wouldn’t have dared to dream. I’m learning to look to His example more and more, and as I do this more consistently, the peace and joy of being with Him surpass any mountain view I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Ashley Tschopp | Member at Redeemer
STORY
PEACE IN THE WALKING
The tendency throughout my life has been to place more importance on achieving results over the way I treat others. This stain in character had to be painfully shown to me. I found myself in a leadership role that my hard work could not overcome. I tried the usual methods of coming in early, staying late, putting in extra workdays, sacrificing time with family, friends, and personal health, but nothing worked because I was blinded by the pride in my life. The pride that told me I'm better than the other leaders I work with. I'm more holy, I'm a good person, if only I work harder than the others I'm around then I will overcome, I will prevail. I was focused on the specks of dust in others' eyes and missing the plank in my own.
The reality is God is always working, He never sleeps, and does not need our human inputs to work out his sovereignty in our lives, but rather my eyes and ears had to be taken off myself and pointed heavenward to see the work He is doing in my life to refine and shape me. My first job change at the start of 2020 was filled with fear. I was fearful I would not be able to provide for my young growing family, not able to care for my wife, not able to provide a place to live, or food on the table. The new job met all those needs and provided the seeming stability that we longed for in our lives. When the loss of that stability became apparent after such a short season of only 6 months and the root cause was my own obsession with working toward results no matter the cost. We had nowhere else to turn to except to Christ, His Word, and worship. I cried out to God and He was faithful, gentle, and loving. He removed the idolatry of performance and replaced it with peace.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. - John 14:27
This peace allowed us to go through a 2nd job change, a 2nd move, and the birth of our 2nd child in under 2 years with a greater peace than our first job change and move. Did I need discipline from God? Yes. Did my wife and I both need more reliance on Christ than on our own resources? Yes. But God’s steadfast love draws us to Him, He is both an almighty God to be feared and a loving father to embrace.
Anson Workman | Member at Redeemer