Yesterday, Linda and I took some of our grandchildren on a hike in Codorus Park. We were on a main trail, but decided to take a little loop trail off of it that would take us down to the lake. We soon encountered a large, spiked pine tree that had fallen across the trail. The first thought was to turn around and go back. In an effort to encourage us to go forward, I somewhat jokingly said, “that in life when we encounter an obstacle and a problem, we need to not let it stop us but see it as a challenge and an opportunity to go forward. You never know what you will miss if you turn around and go back.” Probably having nothing to do with what I said, we decided to climb over the tree and go forward.
Little did I know that my statement would be so true. What we encountered when we got to the water was a true blessing that had we turned around we would have missed. When we arrived at the shore, we saw a beautiful view. But we also encountered other things. Someone, many years ago, had placed three very nice wicker chairs with now very weathered cushions at that spot. There was also a small Tupperware container connected to one chair. In it were two small booklets to write in and several pens. We opened one of the booklets and saw a note from Ethan written earlier this
year. He wrote how he had been coming to that spot for years, especially on bad days, so he could be encouraged by being in nature and reading the stories of others.
In the second booklet we read an entry by Halley, who was nine years old from a year ago. She also said she liked to come to this spot. She loved to be out in God’s creation. She wrote that she wanted to share a verse with everyone. She wrote. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” She then closed it by saying, “Trust in God.”
What a blessing it was to encounter this area. And we would have missed it if we had allowed that obstacle to make us turn back.
1 Peter 5:10 “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Philippians 3.13-15 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things.
When you encounter an obstacle in your path, trust in God and press forward. God has a blessing waiting for you on the other side.
In Christ Alone
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