“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” I John 5:4
“You have to go through the muck.” Behind me, Michelle was of course speaking about the spiritual parallels for the current situation we found ourselves in—specifically, my two dear friends and I were going through, well, the muck. Literally.
Our families recently visited Vermont for a long weekend, staying in a house together that sat nestled in a community filled with trees, dirt roads, and, to our joy, hiking trails. This particular morning all twelve of us decided (well, ok, the moms kinda made an executive decision) that we would spend an hour or two hiking the four-mile trail to the top of a mountain.
Within minutes the kids had disappeared, leaving the six adults in their dust. As the adults journeyed, we commented on the change in the terrain the further we walked. Slowly the wide path narrowed. Slowly the small rocks and graveled path grew large roots and sprung ginormous rocks right in the middle of the path. What was that about!? There was no sign posted that said, “Warning, this path will become dangerous.”
We made it pretty far successfully, but then the men decided they’d had enough and would meet us at the bottom. We were about a quarter-mile to the top—or so we had been told. As the three of us brave women continued, the path turned mucky. Hence, the beginning of our spiritual parallel inspirations.
“You have to go through the muck to get to the end, and the end is glorious.”
“We all fall down (ok, none of us actually fell, but admittedly, there were slippings and three pairs of wet feet), but we have to pick ourselves up and stay on the path.”
“Keep going because there’s a great reward at the end.”
“There will be roots that pop up and the rocks will make you stumble, but press on.”
The parallels were endless. Michelle and Jill began to spew them out one after another. It was just enough for me to keep up with them as I typed my notes into my phone (thank God for cell phones). This continued until we found ourselves making references to the straight and narrow path that was not very well traveled. Because, uh, well, that’s just where we realized we had landed. The first indication was the overgrown ferns that our legs swished through. But it wasn’t until the “no trespassing” signs posted to trees that we really knew we were on the wrong path—another spiritual parallel!
Fortunately, it was easy enough to retrace our steps, and, with the help of one of our teenagers (thank God again for cell phones), we made it back to where we had missed the turn-off. A little late, but after more climbing and huffing and puffing, we made it to the summit. Exhausted, we grabbed a quick selfie and rested on the rock, soaking in the breathtaking view of God’s creation.
Does It Matter What We Think? I have a T-shirt that displays a mountain, and the words “You Claimed the Victory” are written across it. I got it for free last year at a Christian music festival to support a band (I’m embarrassed to say I don’t remember who, but I am eternally grateful, for this is one of my faves). The shirt is a constant reminder of what happens when we persist through the muck. On that mountain, we persisted through the muck, the annoying flying bugs, the steep rocks that required support from nearby trees (I am so thankful those roots remained deep in the ground), and getting lost. But as we kept our mind on the reward, ignoring the wet feet and mucky pathway, our spirits remained high. We knew what awaited us at the end. We claimed the victory, and saw it! And let me tell you, it was worth every hardship.
What about you? Has God shown you a spiritual parallel somewhere in nature? Drop me a comment. I’d love to hear it!
Does It Matter What We Think? 