Lead Me, Guide Me

Mt. St. Helens looking from the south into the crater/blast zone.

This past month, a group of us hiked to the top of Mt. St. Helens. Yup, an active volcano with one heck of a RECENT explosive history. I love being able to see this Beauty from our home and taking visitors to meet her face to face.

The hiking crew.

On this particular venture up the mountain, I recognized something profound.  Another life lesson hit me square between the eyes that day.  It has stayed with me for weeks and I'd like to share that insight with all of you.  After all, hopefully by now you know that I'm a sucker for a great analogy--especially those found in the great outdoors.

After a few miles of hiking on a clearly defined and lushly wooded trail up the mountain, one begins to ascend a challenging climb up, over, and through the rocky scramble partially pictured below.  This obvious path soon disappears and all that seems left to guide the hiker at this point is an occasional glimpse of the snow-dotted ridge line at the top.  At this point, there's no one way or right way up the mountain and the possibilities for self-chosen routes are endless.

An easy to follow trail through the woods gives way to a long, rocky scramble that reads like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.

What one does find, though, is the occasional wooden post about six to seven feet in height jutting out of the boulders.  On the hike up, the markers can be hard to detect at times.  It requires a bit of faith in moving forward in the right general direction and then making your own moment by moment choices based on what you can see coming at you in the immediate future.

                                     

 

Photo Credit

When one of these trail markers becomes visible, a course correction is sometimes in order to become better aligned with the general path.  Other times, the way that you've chosen has taken you quite close to the marker enabling a better view of the next one to aim for as you continue to make your way.  And no matter how great a path you've chosen, no matter how many people seem to have gone that way before (based on dusty boot prints), visual confirmation often doesn't come until you're practically staring that marker right in the face.

The most fascinating realization was in being able to look back down the mountain and clearly seeing all of those markers.  The correct path to take looked so obvious when looking down from such a vantage point.  How could I have second guessed myself so often as to whether I was really taking the best route?  It seems as if I had been on it all along with those wooden posts acting as guides to reassure that I was indeed making my way up the mountain.

The view looking back.

Though I was given ample room to decide the specifics of which particular rocks I would climb, which ones I would ultimately choose to bypass, and which of the various dusty paths looked the best, those wooden staked markers consistently showed me if I was getting too off course.

These visual markers led me to consider how we are so often led in life by a loving and wise Father in Heaven.  He has laid a path out before us, yet there is much room for decision-making and a million and one different ways to approach the same mountain climb called life's journey.  No two ascents are exactly the same, but all are set out upon to hopefully reach the same final destination.  

God does not always provide a step-by-step set of directions, but rather gives a set of parameters with guiding posts along the way, allowing for us to use our agency to the best of our ability in any given situation. That can sometimes be a scary thing, right?  How often do we find ourselves wanting constant hand-holding from heaven, clinging to the desire of wanting to do everything just right, fearing mistakes and  loss of control over unforeseeable outcomes! 

What I find key here is that God leads rather manages us.  To learn the difference, read this quick description that is applicable not only to the workplace, but to all situations in life: http://www.peelerassociates.com/blog/leading-versus-managing-eight-key-differences/.  

In the scriptures, the word "lead" or "led" appears in almost 400 references.  Try looking up the word "managed."  You won't find it even once.  God does not desire to manage us.  Rather, as the ultimate example of a true leader, He provides a vision, leads by example, and becomes our greatest cheerleader as we make our way along with the help of guiding posts.  

We both rely upon and act as trail markers on the path of life.

Blame it on the Stephen R. Covey leadership book that I finished over the summer (The 8th Habit, read it!) or perhaps the many situations this past year that have left me to consider that we're on to something important here.  When we are led rather than given specifics for every situation, creativity abounds, self-esteem and confidence grows, and the ability to become more like our Father in Heaven begins to emerge.

What I have found is that just as with young children or an apprentice to a new skill, managing, directing, and specific guiding occurs, when necessary, to set a firm foundation of knowledge.  As the learner begins to grow and develop,  the greatest opportunity for development and understanding comes when we are allowed to choose based on previous learning and practice rather than indefinitely following directions.  The result is wisdom.

So, what does this mean for you?

It means that sometimes, when faced with decisions, the answers don't come no matter how hard it seems that you're praying.  God has not abandoned you.  You are not unlovable.  You are not forgotten.  

Rather, you are loved enough to be allowed to learn by choosing and loved enough to have guiding markers placed specific to your life that will offer course corrections when needed.  Have faith that confirming guidance will come when necessary.  

It also means that in the various places in which we are called to lead and influence, choose leading rather than managing.  Yes, families, work groups, church places, or any other circle of influence do require patient teaching and specific instruction, but ultimately, the most effective and loving authoritative act is found in leading as our Father does. 

So, this week let the micro-managing take a back seat and choose to lead as our Father does and courageously trust in Him when He leads you in such a way along your path up the mountain of life.

Until next time!

~Arianna

Physical Climbs, Spiritual Mountains

Once upon a time in a less industrialized world, we worked hard for everything that we had.  Physical toil and labor were the only means to have or do anything.  You're hungry?  Go grow a garden and milk the cows.  You're thirsty? Go walk down to the creek and haul back enough water to last a short part of your day. You want a new outfit?  It may take a good long while for you to not only weave the fabric, but to then sew it together in a pleasing manner.

 

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I am fortunate to say that I have lived a life of modern ease and convenience.  I've been able to open the refrigerator and find food, water seems to magically always be available out of the faucet coming from some unknown location, and pretty much every material need/want that I have is available to me, just a short car drive away.  But really, is it a fortunate thing, in the scheme of things, to have it so easy?  What experiences and learning are we missing by not having to work hard and truly challenge ourselves?  If Cinderella had skipped out on the hard times, would she have been as appreciative of the good things that came to her later in life?

Cinderella's hard work helped inoculate her from a bad case of entitlement.

Basic existence at one time was tedious work (and still is for many around the world).  Hard work.  Taxing work.  But this requirement to sweat for our daily bread was a blessing in the long run.  Besides callouses, physical work helped develop personal integrity, gratitude, endurance, and patience--things that we seem to be losing as a general population these days.

Over the past 5+ years, I've noticed a sharp increase in numbers of folks participating in physically challenging events such as running races, triathlons, and other various ways to test their nerve and mettle.  There's the Dirty Dash, Color Runs, the Tough Mudder, and so many more all requiring its participants to sweat, work, and sacrifice on purpose.  What we have here are people who are purposely choosing and PAYING to do hard things on their own volition! Is it insanity or something more?

Cyclists tackling 100 miles at our annual Couve to Coast century.

To some, it may seem like a fad--an "everyone's doing it" phenomenon or an ego booster.  Perhaps for some it may be just that initially, but those reasons, too, are evidence of a deeper desire, that I would suggest, we subconsciously have to want and need to pursue challenges.  Climbing mountains, running endless miles, and swimming across cold lakes all seem to offer a solution to that subconscious desire that our westernized bodies and minds have in craving to do hard things.

What are do we get out of electing to do these crazy things?  Here's a partial list of the wonderful, even critical fruits of this thing called labor:

-An increased sense of self-worth and confidence.  "Holy smokes, we can do HARD THINGS!"  In a world of microwaves and washing machines, truly, the hardest thing that we might physically do all day is getting out of bed at 5 a.m. to go run 6 miles.

-  Depending on the sport/event, it allows the participant to spend time enjoying God's creations.  A deep sense of gratitude for His handiwork and gifts to us emerges as we continuously spend time in nature.  I have found my most joyful and peaceful moments to be when out and about in the woods, at the beach, or in my own neighborhood as the sun comes up.

-  For most people, the most convenient time to train is in those early morning hours.  A habit of working and contemplating when things are most quiet allows for much personal reflection.  I have solved the world's problems and my own personal challenges again and again during that time! 

-  With time, training for these sorts of events creates a discipline of body and mind.  When we learn to subdue our bodies with the desires of our will, we have earned a tremendous power that seeps into all other areas of our lives.  It injects a sense of control in our lives; someplace that we can measure progress and growth.

-  Hard physical work (and time spent outdoors) is often joked about and referred to as being the cheapest form of therapy.  It is scientifically proven to reduce stress, depression, and a whole host of other mental and emotional issues.  I can vouch for it personally.

-  A sense of camaraderie is found in sharing hard experiences with one another.  A bonding occurs amongst even perfect strangers who can look to one another and say, "Wow, we just did that really hard thing.  Good job!" I've seen it happen at the top of mountains, at the end of a long cycling ride, and during 10k runs.  Having just hosted one such event, I was taken back by how dozens of individuals had just spent nearly 7 hours on a bicycle seat and at the end were all smiling and giving each other heart-felt high fives!  What an amazing sight!


And that's just a start to the many benefits.

Though there is something particular to these sorts of sporting events that make them such a powerful vehicle for growth, we are more than capable in running our own personal marathons in other ways that don't necessarily require gel shots and spandex.  We can climb mountains in many different ways and means.  What I know for sure is that the body and mind are inherently connected.  I am confident that what we do WITH and TO our physical bodies directly affects our spirits.  What happens in the physical world is often a parallel for the inner, spiritual world within each of us.  When practice hard work with our bodies, we are then also better equipping ourselves to practice hard work with our spirits, which also have a yearning to grow through doing hard things.

I love this quote from Tolstoy:

Ultimately, climbing mountains and all other challenging physical pursuits help enable our spirits to climb its own mountains.   These mountains come in the form of trials of every kind:

Loneliness
Loss
Financial distress
Fear
Abuse
Questioning and discovering truth and faith

The list is endless.  These mountains are real, but are present for one main purpose.  Take the time to watch the following video--you'll thank me.  It's powerful and speaks truth about why we all have our own spiritual Boston Marathon's to run and Alps to climb.  (The youtube link is giving several readers trouble, so give this direct link a try.)

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO!

For those of you NOT having issues with the Youtube link, it's here:

And that's why we climb mountains, people.  That's why I think that so many of us are jumping on the 5K bandwagon.  Deep inside of us, we are searching for ways to learn to work hard and gain the courage, confidence, and strength that will help us to graciously tackle life's unexpected and less orchestrated events.  From these come the growth and preparation that we need in order to grow and work where it matters most--in coming to have a perfect knowledge of Christ who modeled for each of us the art of doing hard things.  Perhaps there will even be an awesome commemorative t-shirt awarded at the end.  :)


Until next time, fellow adventurers!

~Arianna