I am sore and just need to rest. I know that my life has been called to live a life on a narrow road. Part of that narrow road includes fostering relationships between women. My amazing sister Kelly, often walks this road with me. We have recognized a weakness and after sitting with the Lord, we decided that we need to focus hard on helping women build relationships with each other. What we both know is that making friends and building relationships are harder in 2021 than they were in 33AD because we don’t actually do life on life to the extent that women did in 33AD. What I mean is we don’t all go to the same small market. We don’t all go down to the river together to wash clothes. We don’t deliver each other’s babies. I am not saying that we should be doing these things. I am just saying that life on life and fostering relationships in 2021 looks different than it did in 33AD.
I took 9 women hiking this past weekend. I wanted to do something fun and outdoors in my anticipation of spring coming. I started planning about a month ago. I figured out where I wanted to go quickly. The decision was made to go to the Wichita Wildlife Reserve. Then I started inviting different women to join me. After everything was all said and done, I had invited 120 women. I know that seems like a lot of women to take on a hiking trip. Once you reach this huge number of people when hiking, it becomes overcrowded fast. I knew that I would not end up with more than 25 women hiking at the most. I knew this because I knew that what I would be asking of these women was costly. I cast a wide net. Nine out of 120 women were up for the challenge. Why so little? I will tell you.
There were a few reasons for women not to go. We were set to go on a Saturday morning. Many women set aside their weekends for their family. They go hard doing so much through the week, they want to give their family the time due. Some women are either single moms or have a spouse that works weekends. This made an obstacle for them to hurdle. A person’s priorities and prior engagements can determine their willingness to join us. That’s okay. They weren’t wrong. We were set to leave at 5am. Yes you read that correct 5am. We leave our area at 5am so that we can make it to the hiking trail in the mountains by 7am. When we get there early; we are able to avoid a lot of traffic, see the sunrise, catch the animals on their morning walk, avoid most other hiking groups, and most importantly we are able to avoid the majority of the heat. There are a few reasons to leave at 5, the biggest being the safety of all hikers in the group. Dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke are killers. The only water that is guaranteed on a hike, is the water you bring with you. It was not the opportune time fore some women to join us. That is okay. They weren’t wrong. We had decided to hike 6.1 miles. This is the full Bison trail. Hiking a 6.1-mile trail can be very physically demanding. Most American women can not go from living our everyday lives with minor physical activity to hiking 6 miles through the mountains. The trail is not flat. The trail is up and down the whole way and has a 417 ft elevation gain. Some believed they were unable to physically complete the hike (some were right), some worried they would hold others back. They did not believe they were prepared to go the distance. That’s okay. They weren’t wrong.
Then… there were the 9. The 9 that chose to make this a priority. They chose this over other things. They found a way. Many of them had to rearrange many things and rely on other people to make this possible, but they put in the work to do be able to go. 9 women made sure that they were where they needed to be when they needed to be there. They knew that they could not change the time but wanted to go bad enough they were not deterred by the inconvenient time. 9 women knew they could physically and mentally complete the test laid out for them. Whenever a few had doubts about their abilities, they chose to trust the Lord to bring them to the end of the trail. 9 women continuously checked on each other while on the trail. 9 women encouraged each other to keep going. 9 women either spoke scripture or received scripture with a glad heart. I don’t know about the other 9 women, but I know that I am tired and sore. I just need to rest and let myself recuperate.
All of the things that I have talked about here, having to do with the hiking trip, is also true about discipleship. Even when a wide net is cast, few will be caught and committed. [Matthew 7:13-14] Discipleship has to be a priority in your life. You have to be willing to sacrifice other things in life to follow Christ and teach others to do the same. [Luke9:23] [2 Timothy 2:2]You don’t always get to choose when things happen. Everything is based on the Lord’s timing.[Proverbs 16:9] If you are waiting for a more convenient time to walk as a disciple or disciple maker, you may never do it. [Luke 9:57-62]You have to count the cost before you can commit. [Luke14:28-30] You constantly have to remind yourself that the Lord prepares you, [Mark 1:3]encourages you [Romans 15:4], reminds you of scripture [2 Peter 1:12]and fully equips you to walk as his disciple. [Hebrews 13:20-21]
Hiking, just like discipleship, can wear on me and force me to rest and recoup. So today, I’m sore and need to rest physically. I always need to rest and recoup with the Lord. Resting with the Lord renews me physically and spiritually.
Are you prioritizing correctly?
Are you waiting for a more opportune time?
Are you willing and able?
Are you resting with the Lord?
Grace & Peace
Chorley
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