The ten days since returning from one of the best family holidays ever have been rough. It seems as if events have conspired to steal time, while hitting me hard both physically and emotionally. According to my Fitbit device I was averaging seven and a half hours sleep on holiday. Now I am down to six, and it isn’t enough. I am writing this post from a Warsaw hotel room. I have two more busy weeks of business travel in Eastern Europe ahead of me, and then I have to find time to write the reports that this work is generating. Church life is equally demanding and I simply don’t have time to get everything done. If I am honest there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. I wish I were back in Sweden on holiday!
On our final night in Sweden Marilyn and I decided to walk the two kilometres to Hafstentoppen. The distance wasn’t an issue but the climb was in places, particularly as the ground was wet. The walk is marked by posts with blue circles on them, and by splodges of blue paint on trees and rocks. Not all of the markings are clearly visible, and we had to search around for some of them. One part of the trail involved using ropes to ascend (and later descend) a somewhat inclined rock with water running down it!
After tackling the wet rock we found ourselves at what we thought had to be the last post. The views were fantastic and we just had to be at the top of Hafstentoppen. We weren’t. Marilyn spotted another post, and another, and another. From that point we wanted every post, and every blue marked rock and tree to be the last. But they weren’t. Eventually, we found the last post standing in a cairn of rocks that marked the peak of Hafsten and provided us with some stunning views of the surrounding fjords. I could have stood there forever, but the sun was starting to disappear, and like Hansel and Gretel we needed to follow the markers home.
Sometimes life is like a walk to Hafstentoppen. We follow the markers in a given situation but never reach the end. We do all the right things, but we never ever seem to find the elusive last post. On the last night of our holiday we had no intention of giving up, particularly as it was our last opportunity to climb to Hafstentoppen. We realised that the walk might be challenging, and we knew that the wet ground might cause us some problems. But the reward of reaching the summit made the climb seem insignificant. We trusted the markers, and we followed them to the end. The walk to Hafstentoppen was a small reminder that Jesus calls us to follow Him to the end. He never said that the following would be easy, but He did promise an amazing reward.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV)
Julie (aka Cookie) said:
a wonderful analogy David–my husband and I, once hiking in the mountainous woods of Vermont found ourselves in a similar predicament of following what we thought was the markers to the top—but we were following the markers to the winter cross country ski route that traversed for miles through the mountains. . .
and isn’t that always the way—coming off the proverbial mountain back down to the valley of life—it is chaotic and crazy as usual–prompting us to wish we could always stay up on the beautiful and peaceful mountain top. . .God would have us to be busy about our task of doing His work in the valley. Welcome back to the valley my friend 🙂 Blessings as you work on getting the next two weeks under your belt–and plan another quick holiday someplace so you’ll have something, even just a small weekend get-away to look forward to!
Thank you for the lovely analogy this morning. . .
Julie
David said:
Thank you Julie. Home now. Travelling again next Tuesday to Budapest. On Hafsten the different walks were signified by different colours on the posts. I can imagine how far you must have walked on the ski route!
I think you have written another post there about life in the valley. I don’t know what your taste in music is like, but have you heard ‘Mountaintop’ by City Harmonic? I should probably add a link to this blog but here is the YouTube link for you.
Blessings. David
Julie (aka Cookie) said:
Love the song!! I love contemporary Christian music—with an affinity of early Third Day music—thank you for sharing as that song sums it up in such a lovely nutshell 🙂
Travel safe—the world has grown so terribly dark as of late!
with love—Julie
David said:
I am not sure how I came across City Harmonic Julie but I love their music. Glad you enjoyed the song. The world is dark indeed – I visited Moscow and Kiev with work last year and can’t believe what has happened in Ukraine since then.
Kevin said:
For a minute, I thought the title of the big meant it was your last.
Am glad it wasn’t!
Great blog, even better bible verse!
Anthony Baker said:
I thought the same thing! I almost panicked!
David said:
Thanks for the vote of confidence Kevin and Anthony!
Kevin said:
Stupid predictive text, blog, not big!
Jessie Clemence said:
Well, I’m glad you’re not losing heart, but I am praying you get your schedule to a more manageable place. Too much stress steals the joy right out of life.
David said:
Thanks Jessie – I’m really pleased we had that holiday in Sweden. It was perfect. I knew September was going to be a challenge. I hadn’t anticipated quite how challenging it would turn out!
nataliescarberry said:
Great post, David. I pray that your coming weeks are so full of blessings that you notice not the busyness of them! Hugs, N 🙂
David said:
Thank you Natalie. I think God topped us up with blessings through the holiday in Sweden and I am so grateful for that! He knew what was coming our way in September.