“He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.” (Psalms 23:2-3,NIV)

“Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalms 143:8, NIV)

Life would be much simpler if we followed this advice and inquired of God for any decision we make. Things would end up so differently! Is it any wonder that way too often we are left in turmoil, with real headaches over seemingly unsolvable problems?

“Once again David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him . . . ” (1 Samuel 23:4, NIV)

David constantly inquired of our Abba Father. In fact, there was only one incident recorded in the Bible where it seem he did NOT inquire of God; The incident with Bathsheba! Is it any wonder that David was called “A man after God’s heart” (See Acts 13:22)?

Why is it that we so stubbornly go our own way most of the time? After all, is our way truly always the best?

Heavy rainfall was predicted to begin at noon. Still, the morning was young (Ten A.M. is quite early for a young adult!), and we decided to venture into the Algonquin wilderness. The first spot had beautiful views of the provincial park, but unfortunately, there was no sun, which is not the best for a photographer!

When we finished there, it still wasn’t raining, and we decided to try and squeeze in Bat Lake before the rain came. Bat Lake is called an acidic lake. I could already imagine vapors rising from its surface, and anything touching the water would instantly evaporate into nothingness. A great place to dissolve garbage!

But it wasn’t the case. Bat Lake was just an ordinary lake, like all the other ones. It was just that the PH balance was a little off, that’s all.

Most of the trails were circular in nature, and there was a recommended direction for hiking them. We anticipated Bat Lake to be close to the recommended beginning of the trail, and we decided to hike in as far as the lake, take a few picture, and return the way we had come, back to the safety of our vehicle before the rain began. When we looked at the map, however, we realized the lake was actually on the other end of the 5.7 kilometer trail, very close to the recommended exit. We noticed that if we hiked the trail in the wrong way, the lake would be much closer to the parking lot.

“Let’s do it,” I suggested. “Let’s run in the exit and come back out the way we went in!”

“Yeah!” Agreed my son.

All went smoothly as we entered the trail going the wrong way, except of course, for the abundance of mosquitoes that seemed to be very attracted to us whenever we stopped to take a picture. No wonder we limited photography to a trickle during this expedition!

Halfway to the lake, my son declared: “It would make me feel so good if we did the whole trail. Imagine how satisfying it would be to finish this trail!”

My eyes opened wide. My thoughts jumbled: What about the rain? What about these blood-thirsty insects that are faithfully following us? What about . . . ? “I agree!” I concurred.

Why did I say that?

We found the lake, and we continued on, following the trail the “wrong” way. We met many people who must have wondered why we were hiking the trail from the opposite direction. One even asked us about it.

“It’s quite simple,” I said. “We are rebels. We like to do everything backwards.”

By the look on the face of the one who had asked the question, my explanation must not have made much sense.

Once we entered the last part of the trail, we were amazed at the beauty. We found ourselves following a brook through the forest. Some huge trees had fallen over, taken large portions of the forest floor with them (Poor earthworms!). There were also more “mole hills”, which only added to the beauty. And amazingly, for some reason there were no more mosquitoes on this end of the trail.

As we returned to our car, we decided that this last part of the trail was well worth the hike. Had we stuck with our plan, we would have missed the highlight of our day.

As soon as we were back in the car, it began to pour, and we found ourselves confined to our tent trailer for the remainder of the day.

One good thing about having done the trail in reverse was that there was a huge “mole hill” that trekkers had to descend. It was so steep that they even placed foot stoppers on the way. Climbing such a hill wouldn’t be so bad, but descending it would be a real nightmare. Doing the trail in reverse meant that we only had to climb it! Whew!

Way too often we make decision without involving our Heavenly Father, who knows what is best for us. If we are truly Kingdom subjects, wouldn’t we automatically inquire of our King before making our decision? Wouldn’t this make our decisions like child’s play, as our Dad would always guide us in the right direction?

No wonder we encounter way too many headaches!

Watch out! Those mosquitoes are vicious!

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “Alive” devotional series, please click here.)