Forward or Back?

I took a hike today to an area called Red Hills. After my hike, I think it more appropriately should be named 'The Wilderness Hills,' as it definitely felt like I was wandering in the wilderness. The trails don't have much shade. Actually, I'd say 99.9% of the trails are without shade.

Hiking the trails at Red Hills feels like being in the middle of nowhere. Today I took a trail head that had several different trails listed. I chose the overlook trail, because I'm a sucker for scenery, especially overlooks. Of course, the trail lead up, so up I went. It was a hot hike, but beautiful view once I got to the top. I decided to keep following the trail, thinking it would soon loop me back to the parking lot. The trail lead down, so I went down. And I kept going down. There were beautiful flowers along the way. I kept checking the map to see when and where it would loop me back. But I only saw one big 3.3 mile loop.

With my 3:00 Skype appointment quickly approaching, I decided I needed to turn around and go back. Because I had come down, the way back was up. It was a hot, sunny hike back up. A short way back up the trail I found a little shade and sat down for a breather (I'm so out of shape). I drank some water and begged God to help me, asking, "What have I gotten myself into?" And I wondered if that's how the Israelites felt as they wandered in the wilderness.

As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, how many times did they wonder what they had gotten themselves into? How many times did they wish to be back in Egypt? They thought that going back was better than going forward.

I don't know about you, but as I've journeyed through my own wilderness wandering, it has often seemed easier to go backwards than forwards. It's such a long way forward sometimes that going back the way I came is desirable. But after today, I'd say the way back is a whole lot harder than going forward.

What would have happened had they gone back? The app I was using today told me that there was a river ahead on the trail that I would eventually come to. But because I had to turn back, I missed it. And who knows what else I missed because I turned back. If the Israelites had turned back to Egypt, they would have missed God's provision for them. They would have missed out on the promised land and everything else God had for them.

There's a verse in Isaiah that I love. I have been clinging to it in this season of journeying through what seems like my own wilderness. Isaiah 42:16 says, "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." 

The way forward is long and uncertain. Sometimes it seems easier to go back the way we know. What we don't know is that it's actually much harder. If we go forward, God promises to be with us and not forsake us. He promises to lead us on the trails we have not gone before. The trail I took today was rocky: He promises to make those rocky, rough places smooth. I think His promises make going forward worth it.