GRACE ANCHORED JOURNEY

Earlier this year, my best friends and I traveled to a beautiful place of Sagada, in the northern part of our country. The place was far from the city and the way was too steep, so we had to travel by bus. It was long hours of drive, so we decided to commute using a public transportation instead of driving on our own. Traveling in this unfamiliar place felt like this had been our longest journey.

When we arrived there, we were welcomed by the quietness of the surroundings and the simplicity of life. It felt so peaceful and the chaos that we experienced in the city suddenly vanished. The cool wind that touched our skin and the sound of the swinging trees calmed our weary souls. We had forgotten the stress and hassle that we had to go through along the way.

“Thank you, Lord,” was the only thing that we could utter.

The following day, our itinerary was to hike. Our tour guide boasted the view of what they called “sea of clouds.” But before we could see that, we had to go through hours of walking uphill to the top of the mountain. The “sea of clouds” according to him is like a sea sprinkled with clouds of many shapes slowly drifting in the vastness of the sky.

We were excited and woke up so early and started to walk at 4:30 a.m. The way up to the mountain was muddy (because it rained) and rough. There were many detours and unclear paths, so we need to rely on our tour guide to know whether we go left, right, or straightway. Later on, I called this journey, The Misty Mountain.

Sagada is a mountainous place and it’s so cold. The way is usually foggy due to the climate. On that day, the road was muddy and slippery. We had to hold each other’s hands, so we had full force . In this way, we won’t stumble and fall. The Misty Mountain was a way that’s blinding. It gave us a vague and undefined path. This was what we experienced climbing this mountain. Therefore, we had to trust our tour guide that he was actually directing us to the right way. There were times that we would go ahead of him, but we always make sure that we could still be on sight for safety reasons.

Trusting His leading

Sometimes our Christian journey can be compared to this. When the path is unclear and we can’t figure things out, we need to trust His leading. We need to trust Him at all times because He is our refuge (Psalm 62:8).

The more we trust Him, the more we can walk quickly and safely in whatever misty path we are into. The more we trust, the more we see His blessings through the wonderful sights that we see around. At first, walking in this kind of road seems boring and dragging. But as we walk ahead of the fog, we will see that there’s beauty in the seemingly unattractive way. Along our way, we saw wild, beautiful flowers amidst the tall grasses. We passed by big, green trees, and we had witnessed how the light of the sun slowly taking away the darkness of the dawn. It was an amazing experience that we could not forget. In the same way, our walk with Him can be likened into this. Sometimes God leads us to the path of wilderness but at the end of it, there are great sceneries that we will enjoy should we choose to follow His leading.

The journey in this Misty Mountain was mysterious yet full of wonderful sights as we learned to walk in the right direction according to the instruction of our guide. As we got closer to the top and as the sun started to peek out of the thin sheets of clouds, the view got clearer and more beautiful. As we develop our faith in Him through obedience, we get closer to see Him. That’s where we see things more clearly and beautifully. If we learn to trust Him with every step of the way, we will appreciate the wonderful things that He has prepared at the end of the journey.

Appreciating His divine guidance

Our Christian journey does not always on the smooth side. Why? For us to appreciate every moment of the way because of His guidance. More so, if the road is rough, it is tough. Yet if we tend to find God in the midst of it, His direction and help will be so evident along the way. During those unsteady moments, we have the choice to either depend on Him or depend on ourselves.

We reached the top of the mountain and were able to see the wonderful sight of the clouds carefully floating above the sky. We felt we were on the clouds, too. It took us several hours, but it was all worth it. That was the reward of our obedience and hardship along the way. We reached our destination despite the inconvenience and discomfort climbing the mountain.

God is more than a tour guide. He does not just direct and lead us. He provides the strength and grace to press on when we are about to faint and stumble. In His amazing grace, He opens our eyes to see things the way He sees it. Though the walk is hard, the purpose is not to make our lives difficult but to train and strengthen us.

Obeying makes the journey faster

There are times that God allows detours in our lives. And we must remember that the more we obey, the faster we reach the end of that temporary journey. That’s where we will enjoy the blessings of our obedience. Then, God will lead us to walk a different way. The story of Israelites who went round and round the wilderness due to disobedience is a good illustration of the importance of choosing to obey rather than resist.

The unfolding of our walk continues as long as we have not reached our final destination. As long as He will not call us home yet. And we have the choice – to obey immediately or disobey and start wandering around.