The Counter-Balance

Yesterday I wrote about keeping our cadence as we walk or hike and more specifically as we walk with the Lord.  I mentioned how sometimes our feet can hit a rock or a root and send us struggling for balance.

Appalachian Trail North Carolina

I was thinking last night of the times this has happened on the trail as we hike.  There are an abundance of rocks and roots along the Appalachian Trail.  When you trip over one of these rocks or roots in the path, though, the twenty+ pound pack on our back acts as a counter-balance.  While we are indeed hurled down the path at a speed much faster than we intended, rarely does it result in us actually falling.  The weight seems to somehow keep us upright.  It is when we are walking on the the city sidewalks, without our packs, we are more likely to hit the ground. The burden of the packs tends to help keep us upright.  

Isn't this true in our spiritual lives as well?  When our hearts are burdened, when we have troubles or problems which are clearly beyond our ability to manage, we more easily turn to the One upon whom we should cast all our cares.  In those times the Lord seems not only present in our lives, but as David said, "a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1.)


When hiking in the woods for several days at a time we 

Appalachian Trail  Georgia

must carry everything we need on our backs.  We cannot escape the pack.  In this life too, burdens will come and we have found no way of yet to escape them.

"Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." 

Job 5:7 

What we have found is our troubles bring us even closer to the Lord as we depend upon Him.  Sometimes it is in His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus to remove the burden.  Sometimes He lightens the load.  Sometimes it is His purpose for us to walk the path with the load centered squarely on our backs and to depend upon His strengthening, His empowering, His guiding to see us safely along the way.

"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: 

for My strength is made perfect in weakness. 

Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,

 that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 

2 Corinthians 12:9

Appalachian Trail Tennessee

Keep Your Cadence

When we were first new to hiking, I spent a lot of time reading the White Blaze forum.  This site is a place to find answers to all questions related not only to hiking, but to the Appalachian Trail specifically.

I remember reading a veteran hiker who stated the most important thing about maintaining a steady mileage was to "keep your cadence."  He went on to explain that whether the terrain was smooth or rocky, whether the path was ascending or descending, that one should keep a steady pace.  

There is a great deal of truth in his statement.  Muscles in motion tend to remain in motion. Muscles which have ceased motion (at least mine,) are slow to start up again.  A person keeping up a steady, although slow, pace may at the end of the day, have traversed more than someone going in fits and starts.

I have tried to implement this as we walk along the streets each day (although we find very few ascents and more roots than rocks.)  I try to keep a steady cadence running in my head.  As often as not, there is a hymn playing in my head, or (appropriately) one of my favorite pieces of music, Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copeland.  The rhythm of the music helps to keep my feet in rhythm whether stepping over a curb or navigating around a rock, or in Mobile, a disjointed piece of sidewalk.  The words resounding in my brain keep my mind occupied on something other than my feet and legs.

In our Christian lives a steady cadence helps to keep us upon the right path as well.  A steady walk with the Lord: by consistently reading the Bible, turning to the Lord in prayer and consistent fellowship with other believers, will find us with much growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.  Yes, sometimes there may be a root or a rock in the path that we don't see.  Our tired legs may stumble on the object and we might struggle to maintain balance.  But if we fall, if we come to a spot where we stand still, we should listen closely for the call of the Holy Spirit.  He will be gently urging us to "Get up!"  "Keep going!" will be His softly whispered cadence to us.

The race is not to be the first one to finish, it is simply to finish. . .  to continue on until we are done. . . to keep going.

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, 

and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  

I press toward the mark for the prize 

of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  

Philippians 3:13, 14.

Mom's Holiday Baking

My mother was a great baker and she really excelled during the holidays.  I can remember helping her in the kitchen for two or three days preparing the cakes and pies and cookies she would make.

It was a simple plan.  She mixed, measured, baked and iced and I washed dishes.  Mom would move from one recipe to another without stopping, so my job was to have each utensil, each dish washed, dried and back in place before she needed it again.

She worked and I worked.

I was so busy doing my part that I didn't realize exactly how much she was working.  The results were wonderful pumpkin and pecan pies, chocolate pies, German Chocolate cakes, Banana pudding (if she knew "the boys" would be coming because, as she said, "That's their favorite.")  There would be other wonderful desserts that I am sure I have forgotten in the almost 40 years since I left home.

The holiday baking wasn't a "me" or a "she" but a "we."  Now, be certain of one thing, my mother did not need my help in the kitchen.  I was probably more of a hindrance to her in the beginning than a help.  But she let me participate in the process because it was good for me.

The same dynamic applies to our Christian lives.  The Lord Jesus set the pattern by how He lived His earthly life.  He lived every moment in obedience to His Father, confessing that nothing He did was by Himself, but of the Father  

"But Jesus answered them, 

'My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." 

 John 5:17.

By the same token, we do not live independently once we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we live by Him.  He works in and through us and we work by Him.  It is no longer a "me" but a "we."  He doesn't need us to help with the work, but He knows the work is good for us to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18.)

As we live our lives, let us remember that even when it seems it is just "me" working, that Christ is working in and through us to strengthen us, to empower us, to guide us each step of the way.  

"I am crucified with Christ:  nevertheless I live;

 yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:  

and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." 

 Galatians 2:20.

Friends

In the age of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and a host of other social media, everyone wants "friends."  Whether the cyber version or the real life version, most people want to be liked and have friends around them.

It is the rarer person who seeks instead to be a friend.

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Proverbs 18: 24.

So just what does it mean to be a friend?  Let us begin by thinking of the attributes of a friend.

A friend in kind and patient.
A friend is thoughtful.
A friend comforts and encourages.
A friend shares.
A friend celebrates our accomplishments and is genuinely happy for the good things which happen in our lives.
A friend loves us.

And what doesn't a friend do?

A friend isn't boastful or selfish.
A friend doesn't laugh at our mistakes.
A friend doesn't "joke" at our expense.

I wish I could say I was always that kind of friend, but I'm not.  Even my husband Glen, who is the friendliest person on this planet, is not ALWAYS that kind of friend (although he is pretty close!)

But there is One who is.

The Lord Jesus is the perfect friend because everything He ever has done, is doing or will be doing is in perfect accordance with the will of His heavenly Father.  

He has promised He will always be with us.  He has promised He will never leave us.  He has promised He will be all we need Him to be in every circumstance and moment of our lives.  And He never, EVER breaks His promise.

He is the One friend who shares all He has, in fact, if we have trusted in Him we have become "joint-heirs" with Him of all the Father bestows upon Him.  He is with us, He is IN us every moment to lead us, guide us, encourage us and direct us.  He is always pointing us in the right direction and strengthening us to do the Lord's will.

In all our lonely and difficult moments, let us remember that One friend who is always with us and turn to Him with all our cares, for He cares for us.

"Henceforth I call you not servants; 

for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: 

but I have called you friends; 

for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."  John 15:15