Voice of Thunder - Sneffels Traverse

Last week I shared how God was calling me away to be with Him in Strangely Dim.  This week I want to share with you what happened.

I am an indoor girl.  I've never enjoyed going outside.  I like reading...inside.  In our pursuit of better health, my husband and I have been working out and eating in whatever version of healthy we have to pursue in the moment (add on low cholesterol diet to the low nickel diet and we have new dramas to share)  When my friend Minx asked if I would be interesting in stepping in for her friend who couldn't go on a hiking trip they had planned for a year, I laughed it off at first.  I'm not a hiker.  I have never been backpacking.  But I couldn't get it out of my head.  I set a budget, ways to confirm with the Lord that this was His prompting and started reading about the Sneffels Traverse.

The Sneffels Traverse is a 5 day hut to hut backpacking trip across 30 miles of diverse terrain.  Needless to say, God continued to confirm this was the right course and I met my budget goals.  I knew this was going to be a difficult and painful experience but I was so excited by the call to come away with God that I couldn't contain my excitement.

I couldn't sleep the night before we left no matter how hard I tried.  I prayed and waited for God to work or speak.  

The drive up to the trail head was lovely.  A herd of Elk crossed in front of us and the start of the trail was pregnant with beauty.

We were advised that a hiker had gone missing in the area and were asked to keep a look out.

My goal was to accomplish this trip without complaint.

Psalm 19:14 English Standard Version (ESV)

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

    be acceptable in your sight,

     O  Lord , my  rock and my  redeemer.

I started praying as we walked and then waited in silence to hear the Lord speak.

Not. Even. Crickets.

No big deal.  Sometimes patience is required.  Sometimes you need to settle in.  God doesn't show up in my time but His.  

There was plenty of beauty and I was very grateful my pack was comfortable.  I was feeling pretty good...capable.  

We stopped for an early lunch at a beautiful spot just after crossing a little stream.  It was the first real rest for the day and I was still struggling to hear the Lord.  I was straining to hear Him in the gentle breezes, in the near blinding beauty and the peaceful calm but a sense of His presence eluded me.  We moved on quicker than I would have liked but the grey sky which was a blessing at the beginning of the day to keep away the heat was now foreboding rain.  

It wasn't long before we were pulling out rain gear. The torrent that assailed us was all part of the adventure to me.  As I walked, I continued to pray but I was getting frustrated.  Why had God called me away to meet with Him if He wasn't going to show up?  So as the rain pattered against my rain jacket hood I said, "It's just you and me here God.  No one is around.  So where are you?  When are you going to speak to me?"

It wasn't even a second before the blinding flash of light and thunder of a near lightening strike had me cowering in fear.  

My response ...

"Is your majesty and power how you are going to speak to me?  I know that you."

I was disappointed.  I was arrogant.  

The hike got harder at this point.  More fallen logs to climb over, the trail turning into a stream and creeks turning into brown water rushing torrents.  We hunkered down several times because the lightening strikes were so near and frequent but eventually we had to choose between trying to move out of the area or waiting it out.  

We finally got to the hut and started hanging things up to dry.  I couldn't fall asleep.  My prayers became tearful plea's.  I begged God to help me.  To meet me.  To speak.  To heal.  


I heard nothing.

The next day promised to be just as long but also hosted gorgeous views.  Our party, afraid of getting rained out again, pushed even harder.  We didn't stop to eat or look at many of the stunning views.  By the time I completed my first major decline my knee was hurting and I was despondent.  

I came upon this aspen and it caught my eye.  How did it get so twisted up?  How did it keep growing?  How did it figure out which direction was up?  

I wondered the same for myself.  I still hadn't heard from the Lord but I was working to keep Psalms 19:14 at the forefront of my mind.  I repeated it over and over.  I didn't want to miss my encounter with the Lord because I had given up too early.  

He never spoke to me.  I never experienced the time of intimacy I had expected.  What do you do when you do everything you can to meet with the Lord and you get attacked instead?  Some day God will reveal what He was doing during this time.  In the mean time, I will trust He was moving on my behalf.  I will trust that He heard every word, saw every tear and walked every mile with me.  

The week before I left, the chapters I was reading in "Unseen" reminded me that the times in the desert, when we are desperately thirsty for God, reveal our deep need for Him.  It expands our awareness and forces our roots to seek deeper in our desperate thirst for God.  Have you sought God and been unable to see Him in your circumstances?  Have you been thirsty for His living water and cried out "Why won't you give me a drink?  I'm desperate for you!" 

John 19:28 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Death of Jesus

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

He knows...He knows really well.  

Sometimes adventure is choosing to believe that God is more interested in our good than in our comfort.  For me, that meant I got pretty thirsty.  If my roots of faith stretched a little bit deeper because of it, I have nothing to complain about.  I may not see the benefits "above ground" yet, but the fruit will show soon enough.

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