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Oct 21, 2023 06:00am

Watching My Feet

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Do you know what life reminds me of sometimes? No – not a box of chocolates, although a box of chocolates does make life a little more enjoyable. I feel like it seems more like a hike.

I love to hike. I love being in the middle of the woods, hearing nature join together in a unique song, feeling the cool shade of the tree canopy and smelling its fresh scent, occasionally spotting an animal scurrying across the landscape. I usually hike trails with a destination in mind, motivating my trek. The sad part is, I end up spending the majority of my hike with my eyes on my feet. I do not want to trip or come upon a snake without noticing. This is not necessarily wrong. I need to be cautious. I am sometimes clumsy, especially less coordinated these days, so I need to take careful attention to prevent myself from falling. This makes me end up missing out on the beauty of the hike at times, though.

Recently, my husband, Jeremy, and I hiked the waterfall trail at Petit Jean. Jeremy is especially protective of me, and he takes every precaution to protect me from falling or hurting myself. On this particular hike, Jeremy walked ahead of me, and he let me put my arm on his shoulder or his arm most of the way. When we came to a spot that required a more precarious move, he would stop and make sure that I got to the next step safely. Because he did this, I was able to look around while we hiked. I was able to take in the scenery around me. It was beautiful. Once we got to our end point, the waterfall, I was much more mindful of the beauty that it presented. Being able to take in the scenery along the way helped prepare me to be more in tune to beauty once we reached our destination.

I feel like sometimes I do this in life. I get focused on a goal, and I stop looking around while I am walking towards that goal. I am not aware of the beauty around me. I end up missing out on opportunities to see what God has created and placed in my path, because I am too focused on getting to the place I want to be. This is sometimes a financial goal, a personal health goal, or any other worthy and beautiful goal I could name. The goal itself is not something wrong. It is usually something beautiful that I am looking forward to. But, when I forget to put my hand on my Father’s shoulder and just hold His hand and follow his lead, I end up missing out on a lot of beauty. I might end up getting to that beautiful goal, but I missed out on so much along the path it takes to get there.

To quote Hagar from Genesis 16:13, “So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-Roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?”” How much of life am I missing out on when I try to live in my own ability? I just need to trust El-Roi, God who sees me, the One who sees beyond what I can see, to the hearts and souls of every person, to the way every decision impacts the future of all people and His kingdom. If I could just trust Him as I follow the path He has put me on, I will be much more aware of the beauty He is allowing all around me.

Not only will I get to the waterfall at the end of the trail, but I will also see Him at work along the path. Walking the trail under God’s loving guidance allows me to experience beauty I would have missed along the way.