Hiking in Grizzly Country
“Entering Grizzly Country.”
“There is no guarantee for your safety.”
“Bears have attacked and injured people for no reason.”
The signs are posted everywhere. Not to make you afraid but instead to ensure you are prepared. Swallowing a big gulp of bravery, we gathered our backpacks and started out on the trail.
Do we have enough water? Are we going the right way? Is there a safe place to take a break and eat a snack? Is there a bathroom break?
All of these questions and more running through your head until you look back and realize you can no longer see the trailhead, much less the parking lot. We were really doing it. We were hiking in grizzly country.
With our bear spray securely attached to the front of our person, we continued on further into the thick brush. Full of shrubby pines, the coolness radiating through them was almost eerie. Everything so still.
Hiking in Glacier National Park, Montana was a bucket list item for both Ben and me. The views are nothing short of amazing and the vastness of the land is breathtaking. In each direction you look there are mountains to view.
In order to take in the magnificent views, there was some risk involved. In order to focus on the beauty, we had to canvas rocky mountainsides, cross snowy patches in the July heat, and trek through the marshy brush. We knew the woods were full of wildlife. What we did not know was just when they would surface. If the forest was thick, we could be much closer than we thought.
Passing other hikers every now and then, we would strike up conversations and continue on making noise, so as not to spook anything that could be around. The risk of turning the next corner and sharing the trail with a large animal was certainly present.
Though we encountered risk, the reward was great. Quality time outdoors, unplugged from the world and breathing in sheer beauty. Mountain peaks were so magnificent it was almost too much to take in.
As followers of Christ, we too face risk. We must live to proclaim the Good News, unafraid to stand firm in a world and culture that is trying so hard to debunk all religious beliefs. Jesus taught his disciples what it means to take up their cross and follow Him. To live with faith. To live with an unwavering discipline, in which our lives speak Jesus’ love to those around us.
There are Christians living in this world today facing persecution unimaginable to us. Having a Bible or meeting for church could cost them their life. They live believing the reward of eternal life in Heaven is far greater than any risk to follow Jesus while on this Earth.
Am I willing to risk it all to follow Jesus? Am I willing to be all-in? Am I willing to stand firm in my faith no matter what the risk involved?
The risk of hiking among potentially dangerous wildlife led to views that blew our minds. All sense of fear was gone when we experienced what we had been working so hard to get to. The reward was greater than the risk.
May my decision to follow Jesus be greater than any risk. May I live unafraid to stand firm in my faith. May I consistently choose to follow Jesus no matter the cost. The promise of Heaven is real. The promise of eternity is alive. The Hope of Jesus is available. Take that step of faith today. It will be worth it, I promise.
Followers don’t always know where, but they do know WHO.
Matthew 10:26-33; 37-39, NIV
“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside of your Father’s care. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.”
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
