Pastor Casey’s Blog

Need a Map? Or not?

This last week I was able to go up to Bogus Basin area and go snow shoeing with my wife Alyssa.

We bought snow shoes last year and want to do it more often but this was the first time getting out this year.

We started up a pretty steep hill and soon found it was going to be more difficult than we expected. We made it up a little ways before we needed to stop and rest.

Finally, after moving side to side, we made it to the top…only to be disappointed by the view. It was fairly foggy that day and even from the top of the mountain, we couldn’t see more than 100 feet in front of us. We rested for a little bit and then began contemplating which way we could try going in order to get back to our car. We had a rough idea of which way we needed to go. It was not snowing at all, so our tracks were still easily visible. Not long after beginning the trek down had we run into our own tracks from hiking up. We made it back to the bottom of the mountain with ease. I don’t doubt we could have made it back without our tracks; my manly instincts would have kicked in and I would have never needed to even ask for directions…right? But it was still nice to know that we “for sure” were heading in the right direction.

I was reminded about this incident later on when my Upward team went through the Gospel message and the salvation prayer (all teams did so this week). We had our prayer time and then following our prayer time I was able to meet with each boy to see if they “knew” which direction they were going. We talked about Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And then verse 13 of the same chapter says that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The direction I want to go is the one where God is leading the way. We can be assured that God does not turn his back on us, he continues to be there waiting for us to open our arms to Him. Knowing that by following our tracks in the snow, I knew we would never be lead toward the wrong direction. The same happens when you put your sites on God. Following His plan for your life is exactly what He longs for. We can not get lost when we keep our eyes on Jesus. You may feel distracted but no matter how off course or distracted you feel, God is still waiting to help you get right back on track. No map required…good thing for most men.