Lessons from the Backcountry

[JimB]

Recently I did my first backpacking trip with a friend of mine who is a veteran backpacker. At the end of a hard days hike the question was asked between us... "What spiritual lesson did you learn today?" So with this question still ringing through my mind I'd like to share with you in this thread some of the spiritual lessons that I learned while backpacking and even some after thoughts looking back on the experience. Here is the first one that my friend pointed out to me as we walked by a tree.

Lesson #1

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21  Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spoke kindly unto them. 

This tree that we walked by was a very old conifer that had survived the extensive logging in the area. All the other old conifers had been cut logged but yet this one remained. Why? Well if you could have seen it the answer would have been obvious. As a small tree something must have happened to it. Who knows what maybe another tree had fallen on it. But something happened that caused the main trunk split into 4 different trunks. Yet it developed into a large mature tree. Probably 75 to 100 feet tall. Because of it's deformity it made it difficult to cut down and log which is why it was left untouched.

This seemingly a horrible thing that happened on early it's life is actually what saved this tree from being cut down and hauled away to the nearest sawmill.

And so it is with each of us. All of us as we have walked through life have had things that have deformed us. Some physically, others have been spiritually and emotionally damaged through traumatic events. Some have more than likely experienced all three. However, when Christ comes into our hearts and we ask Him to clean us up what was once a bad thing Christ can use for good. Actually this is a promise that we can count on.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

[Mimi]

Amen, Jim! And how many times have we been saved and didn't know it?

What a beautiful object lesson!

What are some others?

[Lewis]

Amen, Jim! And how many times have we been saved and didn't know it?

What a beautiful object lesson!

What are some others?

Amen to being saved many times and all the times we do not know of.

Also, what about all the times we easily overlook all of these lessons in nature that God has in store for us to learn of Him. This makes me think more about keeping in tune to God while out in His nature so I can draw closer to Him.

[JimB]

Lesson #2

This is something that came to mind the first night of the trip. I had to leave the normal "campsite" to take care of something. It was then I noticed how dense the forest was. Just a couple of steps off the path and the forest closed in around you with no evidence of how to get back if you were not paying attention.

So it is with our walk with God. If we step off the path that we are walking with God it just takes a couple of steps towards sin for it crowd in around us and confuse us. Thus making it hard to find our way back. Even with the normal cares and duties of our life we need to be careful that these don't crowd in around us and make us lose sight of our loving Guide.

[Mimi]

Amen, Jim. This is so true for us individually, and the same is true for the church. A few steps outside the narrow way can lead to many more.

We must remember from whence we came.

[Lewis]

If Joseph and Mary had stayed their minds upon God by meditation and prayer, they would have realized the sacredness of their trust, and would not have lost sight of Jesus. By one day's neglect they lost the Saviour; but it cost them three days of anxious search to find Him. So with us; by idle talk, evilspeaking, or neglect of prayer, we may in one day lose the Saviour's presence, and it may take many days of sorrowful search to find Him, and regain the peace that we have lost.  {DA 83.1}

[JimB]

...and it may take many days of sorrowful search to find Him, and regain the peace that we have lost.  {DA 83.1}

So true. Which is why repentance should be quick and deep.

[Richard Myers]

Thanks for the spiritual lesson, Brother Jim. Nature is full of such truths.  All things to do work together for good when we love God with the whole heart.  And, we are to glory in our tribulation realizing that God knows the end from the beginning and He will work these difficulties for our good and His glory.

[JimB]

Lesson #3

There is another lesson I wish to share with everyone. It is directly related to my experience with "Buddy" who is in the picture above. I was sitting high up on a hill when I saw this procupine starting to cross the small valley towards the river. Knowing that porcupines can't move that fast I went down to meet Porky to take his photo. He was unsure of me for a minute. His hesitation allowed me to take his picture. However, as he turned to leave I said to him... "Where are you going?" and as soon as he heard my voice he took off as fast as his little feet could take him.

This is lesson is somewhat reversed. We've all read the text in the Bible where Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and follow him. But what about the opposite? When temptation comes and we recognize the voice of the evil one do we linger and ponder the temptation or do we like my little friend Buddy take off running in the opposite direction as soon as we recognize the danger?

[Wally]

Lesson #3

There is another lesson I wish to share with everyone. It is directly related to my experience with "Buddy" who is in the picture above. I was sitting high up on a hill when I saw this procupine starting to cross the small valley towards the river. Knowing that porcupines can't move that fast I went down to meet Porky to take his photo. He was unsure of me for a minute. His hesitation allowed me to take his picture. However, as he turned to leave I said to him... "Where are you going?" and as soon as he heard my voice he took off as fast as his little feet could take him.

This is lesson is somewhat reversed. We've all read the text in the Bible where Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and follow him. But what about the opposite? When temptation comes and we recognize the voice of the evil one do we linger and ponder the temptation or do we like my little friend Buddy take off running in the opposite direction as soon as we recognize the danger?

An excellent analogy, Jim.  We had the opposite problem with a porcupine one time.  It was apparently an orphan, and less than half grown.  It appeared one day and started scratching on our screen window every night and waking us up.  Our voices didn't scare it at all (it may not have learned that from it's mother before she died--run over by a car we think).  Not sure why it "adopted" us.  We finally fed it a few times, and then (in the interest of a good night's sleep) captured it and hauled it far away.  Those who have not had experience with these animals may wonder why we took it away.  They can be very destructive to trees and anything in your yard that is made of wood.  But they are cute when they're little.

[Jim Taylor]

Thank you for sharing, I love lessons like these.  Much to think on.

Jim

[JimB]

I thought I'd share with you some of the pics from my recent hike for everyone to enjoy. Then in the next post I wish to share another lesson. Although not a new lesson but one that we sometimes need remember from time to time.

[JimB]

Lesson #4

One of the things I tried to show by posting those pictures in the variety in landscapes one can fine just within a few short miles of each other. I saw... huge lakes, thick forests, small streams, open medows, rough waters. God loves variety. This is obvious just from reading the creation account.

And so it is with each of us. We are all different from one another. We think different and see different things in different situations. This was God's plan. But sometimes we become more narrow than God and believe that everyone should be like us. But this is not the way of God. There is a lot of room for differences without sacrificing truth or standards.

Here we are brought together--of different minds, different education, and different training--and we do not expect that every mind will run right in the same channel; but the question is, Are we, the several branches, grafted into the parent Vine? That is what we want to inquire, and we want to ask teachers as well as students. We want to understand whether we are really grafted into the parent Vine. If we are, we may have different manners, different tones, and different voices. You may view things from one standpoint, and we have ideas different from one another in regard to the Scriptures, not in opposition to the Scriptures, but our ideas may vary. My mind may run in the lines most familiar to it, and another may be thinking and taking a view according to his traits of character, and see a very deep interest in one side of it that others do not see.--MS 14, 1894. {1MCP 53.4}

From the endless variety of plants and flowers, we may learn an important lesson. All blossoms are not the same in form or color. Some possess healing virtues. Some are always fragrant. There are  professing Christians who think it their duty to make every other Christian like themselves. This is man's plan, not the plan of God. In the church of God there is room for characters as varied as are the flowers in a garden. In His spiritual garden there are many varieties of flowers.--Lt 95, 1902. (Ev 99.)  {1MCP 54.2}

[Richard Myers]

Amen!  Such a blessing to have nature, the Bible, and the Spirit of Prophecy!     Blessed we are!

[Lewis]

Nice pictures Jim. I love nature. I spend much time in it. When I can not, life is not the same.

I remember going to Lake Superior every year as a child and would look for the Agates. Thanks for sharing your trip and your experiences that God has given you.

[JimB]

Lesson #5

In life things happen to us either through our own devising or by the actions of others and and like the tree above sometimes these end up leaving a permanent record something that can't be erased. However, if we remain connected to Jesus He can heal the wounds and we can still live a full life in Christ. And while the past is there to help us remember our mistakes we are not to let those mistakes discourage us and drag us down. With Christ's help we can be like Paul when he said....

Php 3:13  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,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

[JimB]

Lesson #6

Although a lighthouse is not really what I'd call nature I'm gonna use it since we happened along it on our hiking trip. There are many spiritual lessons that one can draw from a lighthouse. However... I'm just gonna simply quote a couple of scriptures....

Psa 119:105  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Pro 4:18  But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Pro 4:19  The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

[Sister Marie]

Thank you Jim. That was wonderful. And the beauty of that text just warms our hearts with God's love for us.

[Richard Sherwin]

Jim it's been a long time since I've been on here, much less posted anything, but this thread caught my eye. I didn't catch where this trip took place, I might have just missed it. Great pictures.

[Richard Myers]

It has been a long time! We have missed you and your updates on the bee business.  How are your hives?