Last week I went on a hike into the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho with the Discipleship in Action (DIA) students from my church. This hike was to provide the students with an opportunity to get to know each other better and was also part of their training which focuses on character development. Many of these young men and women had never experienced mountains like we had here in Idaho and for some this was the first time they had attempted such a strenuous hike.
By contrast, I started hiking soon after I was out of diapers. I have visited hundreds of alpine lakes in the wilderness areas of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and logged thousands of miles on backcountry trails. So, I was going along to help out as a friendly guide. I hoped that perhaps I would have an opportunity to share some of my wisdom and be allowed to speak into the lives of some of these students. How odd it seemed to me later when I realized that it was me who was receiving so much from them.
I've spent so much time in the alpine wilderness that I sometimes take for granted the majesty of God's creation. Watching so many of these students taking it all in with wide-eyed wonder reminded me of how privileged I was and how great is my God. It was pure joy to listen to them talk excitedly about how grand the mountains were or how clear and beautiful the water in the lakes was.
There was one event that spoke to me most profoundly though. We were all gathered on the shore of Sawtooth Lake and I recalled when I was a young teenager on just such a hike with my youth group. I remembered how much fun we had jumping into the ice cold water so I started shedding clothes and prepared to get in and lead the way. I've never been one for jumping in so I stepped out about halfway to my knees and stood for a few seconds waiting for my feet to get numb. Instead, they started sending jolts of agony up my spine as the icy tentdrils of the glacier fed lake stabbed into my flesh. I couldn't get out of the water fast enough. I tried a few more times and then confessed my defeat. Maybe it was just the seed that was needed though because one of the students (Cory) made her way down to the shore, perched on a rock, and then took the plunge.
Cory came up out of the water hollering with delight and after she got out and stood on the shore she encouraged the others to try it. As they came down to the water she gave them this wisdom: "Don't let your feet touch the water or you will feel how cold it is and lose your courage. Just get on the rock and jump in." What an incredible picture of faith. I knew the water was going to be cold and I was willing to make some sacrifice but I needed to know ahead of time how cold it was going to be. I needed to analyze it, measure it, and prepare myself for it. Once I took time to assess the cost I lost heart and allowed fear to overcome me. Some of the other students worked up the courage to jump in and others gathered close by to thinking about it so Cory dispensed some more wisdom: "Take someone's hand and do it together. It's easier if you do it with someone else." Indeed it is. That is the power of community. God designed us to live in community like this so that we could build each other up and do even greater things, things that we might not be able to accomplish on our own.
Sometimes we need encouragement from someone like Cory to rise up to the challenges in our lives and sometimes we need the shocking cold of glacier water to make us feel truly alive. And sometimes we need a slice of humble pie.
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