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A certain boy who
was in his 20's, participated in a wilderness training course in a
desert and mountain area. For his "final exam," he was
blindfolded, placed in the back of a pickup truck, and taken to a
remote area. There he and his mates were dropped off and told to
meet back at the camp in three days. They did not know where we
were. They had to determine their location with their compasses.
It was a frightening experience for those four young people who
had learned to navigate through the use of a compass only a few
days earlier.
With their food and water on their backs, they began their trek.
It had just snowed that morning, so the way was difficult. They
walked through valleys, canyons, snow-covered hills, and forests.
In all, they walked more than 60 miles in three days. There were
times when they did not think we could go another foot. Exhaustion
and frostbitten feet were taking their toll. However, they finally
made it to their base camp successfully, and to their surprise,
they were the first ones among the other patrols to make it back.
At the conclusion of their journey, they were able to stand on top
of a ridge, look behind us and see the beautiful terrain that they
had just scaled. The pain of what they had just endured seemed to
subside. They could not believe they had actually walked through
those valleys and snowcapped hills. There was a sense of
accomplishment.
Life is very much like this.
It is often lived forward, but understood backward. It is not
until we are down the road a bit that we can appreciate the
terrain God has allowed us to scale and the spiritual deposits He
has made in our life as a result. When you begin to realize some
of this, you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief because you
know that God was in control all along. It didn't seem like it at
the time, but He was.
Are you in the midst of a difficult journey that seems almost
impossible to continue? Be assured that God is providing grace
even now to equip you for that journey. There will be a time when
you can say, "Wow, look at what God has done because of what
I gained through that valley." Trust Him with the outcome of
where you find yourself today.
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