but…what about the adventure?

(Wrote this back in August 2014)

The other day, I spontaneously decided to stop by a place called Radnor Lake after a day of work to walk around the trails.  I had been there a few times and had become pretty familiar with the route.

As I was walking, I noticed a smaller path with a sign above it reading, “Ganier Ridge” with an arrow pointed in one direction away from where I was walking. I hadn’t noticed that the past times I’ve been, so I decided I would go see where it led.

This trail had more elevation and I walked up and along for about 20 minutes, wondering exactly where this was going and how long it was going to take.  I had plans later and didn’t want to be obscenely late.

I began thinking I should just look it up on my phone. How easily I could type in “ganier ridge” and Google would provide me with answers, descriptions, maps, images, etc.

But then I thought, “but where is the adventure in that?“

Yes. Sure, I could look up the length of the trail or if it was a loop or what type of experience this would be — but while there is a safety in knowing what to expect, there’s no adventure in that. No joy. No excitement. No trust.

As I was walking, I began thinking how often I do that with God. I often think, “God, when is ____ going to happen? How much longer until ____? Why is _____ happening? What do you want me to do with ____ situation?”

And sure, we often think how much easier life would be if we had all the answers. But there’s no adventure in that. I thought about how God wants that same adventure with us. He wants to walk alongside us and walk with us. Not just give us answers to our questions but to be with us every step of the way, enjoying the view and asking we trust Him as we hike.

There were two parts along the trail where they had additional signs, and sometimes in life we are given guidance and clear direction. Yet most of the time, we are asked to walk by faith, trusting the One who knows where He is leading us. And while we may not have the answers or knowledge of details about our lives, we get to live in the midst of a beautiful adventure. If we start to embrace that instead of live in fear, we may realize that there is more beauty around us than we would have realized.