The other day I had a dream about being on a hike.
I was alone. It was getting darker the further in I ventured. It was hot and humid; so humid it looked almost foggy. The trees were dense. The slope was steep. There were too many twists and turns to count. The ground was rocky, and filled with tree roots breaking through. There were bugs, so many bugs. And my legs ached as they so often do – like I couldn’t get a break. Either I was walking up a steep side of a mountain and using one set of muscles, or I was walking down and using another set. I was beginning to feel afraid.
“Wow, it’s getting kind of dark.”
“What was that noise?”
“These bugs are driving me nuts.”
“Maybe I should turn back around.”
But I kept hiking. Something told me to keep hiking. Until finally, the forest stopped, and I was at the end of the trail. Standing on a the edge of a cliff, witnessing the most beautiful sunset over the ocean waves that crashed below me. The sky was shades of pastels like I’ve never seen before. The glow of the sun warmed my face as the wind whipped my hair around. It was a view with beauty unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. And in that moment I was so glad I kept hiking and didn’t turn around. That I continued to put one jello leg in front of the other. That I didn’t listen to the fear that tried to creep in. Though it was hard and scary, this view was worth it.
God has been teaching me and revealing to me that life is a lot like this hike that I dreamt about. It’s intense, it’s kind of scary, it’s hard work, there’s twists and turns and things that stick out of the ground waiting to trip us; to hurt us. We can’t really see much ahead of us, it’s dark, there’s dense vegetation, so we just focus on putting one foot in front of the other because we know there’s something insanely beautiful waiting for us at the end.
Ty and I have done several hikes on our vacations together. They suck every time. (and every time I tell myself that I need to start exercising more so they don’t suck as bad 😂) But they’ve always always always been worth it. I’ve never once been disappointed or wished we hadn’t have done them. What a sweet promise for Him to reveal to me while walking in the thick of it all. ♥️