Things I Learned from Hiking the Appalachian Trail: Part One

After 10 miles of hiking from Fontana Dam to the Mollie's Ridge Shelter, up 5,000 feet of elevation, my body felt like it was shutting down. There were times that I thought my feet could take no more punishment from the rocky terrain of the Great Smokey Mountains...times I thought I was going to lay down between a log and a boulder and not get back up until the next day. My body was at its breaking point, but I wasn't going to quit. I was going to make it to the ridge shelter for the night...there was no other choice. There was no exit strategy that day, there was no cop out, no trail back to civilization...it was a feeling I have rarely felt in my life: desperation. No matter how much it hurt, I had to keep going. There was no getting back, but by going forward... there was no other choice. NO OTHER CHOICE.

There are too many "exit strategy" Christians...too many followers of God looking for a way around (or out of) difficult choices and paths placed before them, and God is waiting for us to realize that in carrying the cross of Christianity, we must always press on. No high roads to take when we're in the valleys...no off ramps when walking through the shadows. We must press on, no matter what life takes or gives!

Yet, in our instantly gratified existences, there's no longer that desperation to make us appreciate all the good gifts we are given by the "Father of lights" (James 1:17). Such simplicities of life are daily taken for granted: water, food, family...housing, travel, communication. Things don't seem as sweet until they're taken away, or we can't access them with ease. Relationships are more appreciated when there's no longer a cell phone tower to bounce a loved one's voice into our ear, or Internet chatter to discover the latest adventures of life. When there's no 300 horsepower SUV to take us over long distances, we thank the good Lord for the two feet He gave us (no matter how slowly they may walk).

Through desperation comes an awesome sense of humility and gratitude. We begin to truly bear our cross...we walk - not with the expectation of the material - not with an attitude of deservance, but we walk with a faith (in God) that the uncertainties of life are most certainly in His hands. We walk with a trust that, though the way is rough and steep, we will someday find rest. We walk in desperation, knowing that this world is simply a pathway that leads to a destination far greater than any discomfort this life can ever hold...and we must press on.