Let's Go Hiking

It's hiking season!

That season of year where flowers bloom, the leaves are green, and we find ourselves escaping the toils and screams of society to enjoy the serenity and beauty of nature.

We take selfies nestled deep in the beautiful landscape of our new favorite bluffs, mountain streams, and waterfalls with phrases like #nobetterplaceonearth or #myheartishappy or #naturesfinest.

Have you ever noticed that some of the most beautiful, most alluring places to journey often have a "No Trespassing" sign posted right in front of your eyes? Doesn't that just burst your bubble?

And life is no different. There are boundaries arranged for our protection but it often looks more alluring than the dull and mundane dusty roads of everyday life. We want to escape toward something more attractive all the while ignoring the signs that we're trespassing into a world full of disappointment and frustration.

While God doesn't always post a "No Trespassing" sign in our midst, He's whispering "Don't go there" all the time. A familiar quote by James MacDonald, "When God says don't, He means don't hurt yourself," has captured the implications of choosing our own path void of the wisdom being served by God's Word.

God's goal for us is to journey through life enjoying the benefits of His blessings without stepping off the cliff of the enemy's attempts to detour our lives in the wrong direction. It's just that sometimes the enemy's voice is more enticing than God's whispers of truth.

Then every time we pass one of those "No Trespassing" signs we snatch it off the dangling limbs leading down the path of temptation and strap it around our necks for the rest of the world to see. And it becomes the badge bearing a new attitude toward those other passers-by on the trails of life.

So when people begin to notice suspicious attitudes such as short tempers and blame shifting we begin to tell them to keep out, "No Trespassing!" It's then that we've learned to take what God meant for good, protecting us from harm by telling us to keep out, and we've re-framed the phrase "No Trespassing" to keep people far away from our deceitful hearts.

God created community for us to enjoy traveling through life together. Unfortunately, when we begin to chart a new course that is leading toward destruction we begin to isolate ourselves from others and refrain from authentic community and accountability.

To fully enjoy the trails of God's creation we must also learn to stay on the course of God's design. Don't ignore the "No Trespassing" signs and guardrails on the paths and highways of life. We will never experience the fullness of the happy life God provides if we continue to ignore His signs or turn a deaf ear to His whispers.