Sometimes the roughest paths lead us to incredible destinations.
My family recently took a trip to the North Georgia Mountains. We have always enjoyed hiking together, so this time, I put my daughter in charge of finding us some trails. We settled on a couple of waterfalls and a swinging bridge which happened to be the longest one east of the Mississippi.
The trails she chose were part of the National Forest system. We had never hiked National Forest Trails, but were up for new adventure.
The first trail had a sign on the road that pointed us to a gravel road. We turned and drove a fairly short distance, but questioned ourselves the entire way. Was this gravel road the right path? We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Soon, we saw other cars parked and just a short hike later, we were delighted to find a beautiful waterfall. We were glad we stayed on the path even though it was rough.
The next day, we headed to the swinging bridge. Again, we saw the sign and again, we found ourselves on a gravel path, but this one was rougher and longer. It was five miles and we marveled at how long it seemed to take to travel such a short distance. I watched as my phone reported that we had only traveled a mile. I couldn’t recall ever taking so long to travel just a single mile.
This time, when our phone announced that we had arrived, there was only one car parked. Were we in the right place? A carved out sign pointed to a path to the bridge. The hike was longer than our first one, but we were so glad we did it. The bridge was was worth it and we took tons of pictures as we laughed at how much it moved as we walked across the rushing river below.
Our last planned hike was to another waterfall. This one was much taller than the first. This time, when we saw the sign to the gravel road, we didn’t question the path even though it was much rougher and longer than the first two and at some places, much narrower. There was a steep drop down to a stream on the passenger side. A couple of times, when when passed a car going the opposite direction, they would stop to let us by. When we arrived, there was no central place to park. We just had to find a spot that wouldn’t block the path for other travelers.
Our hike was much longer than the two before. When we began to wonder if we should have brought some water along, we passed by a couple heading back down. The woman smiled and told us that we were close and it was totally worth it. We appreciated the encouragement. When we got to the waterfall, we were all amazed at its majesty. We sat and stayed a while so glad that we kept going even when the path was long and rough.
I thought about our trip long after we returned home. I was reminded that sometimes the distance we have to go isn’t nearly as long as it feels like when the path is rough and we are often much closer than we think to what we are seeking. I was also reminded that the roughest journeys sometimes lead us to incredible destinations far beyond our own imagination. When we are walking in faith and Jesus points us to a path, staying on the path will always be worth it even when we doubt.
Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂