A Hike of Insight

I went on a hike today with a four year old tour guide. Mary, showing me the trail in the hills behind her backyard, scooted happily along in her rubber boots. I actually had a hard time keeping up with her in my white leather Ann Taylor flip flops. However, I did glean some spiritual truth from our walk. Mary, many years my junior, was leading me to a place I had never been before, and she also was going to lead me home. I was distracted by the "moving" weeds and branches (it's alive!) and she was way ahead of me. I thought of the Paths of Our Lives. We can choose to follow one who has been there before or we can choose to go it alone. I appreciated my 4 year old companion. She did know where to turn and when to step over a ditch; my shoes came back unscathed :). Sometimes the paths of our lives are uncertain and unrevealed although predetermined. God knows the steps I will take, where they will lead me and what exactly I will learn in the process. Sometimes he doesn't want to show us the end before we get there, He just uses our Faith and Trust to lead us on. Today I realized that I should have been more prepared for our short journey. A little thing like the right pair of shoes (or hiking boots or even tennies) would have enabled me to go higher, further, faster.....I turned back early on because of my "pretty sandals." How often do we miss what God might have in our path because we are unprepared? Am I ready for whatever He sends my way? Spiritually? Emotionally? Mentally? Physically? I must buffet my body (soul, mind and spirit too) and make it my slave) so that I can submit to Christ and honor Him in any and every circumstance. How do I prepare for who-knows-what? Prayer. Daily time absorbing God's Truth. Walking with Jesus, conditioning my soul for a marathon, so to say. I think we miss God's guidance on our journey if we are not looking for Him along the way. He is ready to shine his light on the path in front of us as soon as we ask for it. What a benevolent Father we have in Heaven. Happy Trails!