LIVING FORWARD, UNDERSTANDING BACKWARD

"The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it." - 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Os Hillman said "When I was in my 20's, I participated in a wilderness-training course in a desert and mountain area. For our "final exam," we were blindfolded,
placed in the back of a pickup truck, and taken to a remote area. We
were dropped off and told to meet back at the camp in three days. We did
not know where we were. We had to determine our location with our
compasses. It was a frightening experience for four young people who had
learned to navigate through the use of a compass only a few days
earlier. With our food and water on our backs, we began our trek. It had
just snowed that morning, so the way was difficult. We walked through
valleys, canyons, snow-covered hills, and forests. In all, we walked
more than 60 miles in three days. There were times when we did not think
we could go another foot. Exhaustion and frostbitten feet were taking
their toll. However, we finally made it to our base camp successfully,
and to our surprise, we were the first ones among the other patrols to
make it back.
At the conclusion of our journey, we were able to stand on top of a
ridge, look behind us and see the beautiful terrain that we had just
scaled. The pain of what we had just endured seemed to subside. We could
not believe we had actually walked through those valleys and snowcapped
hills. There was a sense of accomplishment.
Life is very much like this. It is often lived forward, but understood
backward. It is not until we are down the road a bit that we can
appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale and the spiritual
deposits He has made in our life as a result. When you begin to realize
some of this, you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief because you know
that God was in control all along. It didn't seem like it at the time,
but He was.
Are you in the midst of a difficult journey that seems almost impossible
to continue? Be assured that God is providing grace even now to equip
you for that journey. There will be a time when you can say, "Wow, look
at what God has done because of what I gained through that valley."
Trust Him with the outcome of where you find yourself today.