Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. (Psalm 77:19)
I will bring the blind by a way they did not know: I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them. (Isaiah 42:16)
Some 37 years ago, as a young man in my very early 20's, I found myself all alone, in the middle of the night, fighting for my life, on the side of an Austrian mountain, in the middle of winter. I had a badly injured leg, only a light jacket, no hat, no gloves, and no knowledge of where I was. Though having no relationship with the Lord at that time, I like many people in that situation cried out to Him nevertheless. The situation was dire. Time was critical. The right decisions imperative.
Not knowing what to do, I did the only thing I could do. As I was in no shape to climb up after the fall, I began a harrowing descent down, into the abyss of the night, having no idea what I would find when I got to the bottom. The descent was so steep, I literally used a tree limb as a brace to slow myself down, praying and crying out to the Lord, trying to make one controlled slide after the other.
In one of the most terrifying nights of my life, escaping many nearly disastrous slides, and an equally terrifying river crossing in icy, swift waters, I had made it through the night and down the mountain. Morning was breaking and fields and a road were in the distance. With everything I had left, I made it to that road, just as one lone car, seemingly out of nowhere came driving up. The kindness of that good Samaritan I will never forget. He stopped and put this bloodied, strange American in his car and took me to a hospital.
After the ER put me out, to work on my leg, I woke up in a room they had taken me to. Upon opening my eyes, the first thing I saw, was a carving of Jesus Christ hanging on a wooden cross, attached to the wall right in front of my bed. As I stared at this Christ, I knew, I just knew it was He who had been with me through the night and it was He who had gotten me off that mountain.
And though I didn't come to Christ that night. That was the beginning of Him drawing me to Himself by various means, leading me ever onwards in His ways, until a few years later, I finally came to know Him in full. And since that day, I have never looked back.
And almost symbolic it seems of that mountain night, so my journey with Him has always seemed to go. He seems to have always led me by strange enigmatic paths. By ways in which I have had to take His hand and go with Him like Abraham into the night, by a way unknown, not knowing what I would find when I got there.
I hope this writing can be an encouragement to some. As I hope to use it over a few entries to try to explore the ways of God. What He is really asking. And I why I feel it so imperative in this day. God Bless! Be back soon.
End Part I
I will bring the blind by a way they did not know: I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them. (Isaiah 42:16)
Some 37 years ago, as a young man in my very early 20's, I found myself all alone, in the middle of the night, fighting for my life, on the side of an Austrian mountain, in the middle of winter. I had a badly injured leg, only a light jacket, no hat, no gloves, and no knowledge of where I was. Though having no relationship with the Lord at that time, I like many people in that situation cried out to Him nevertheless. The situation was dire. Time was critical. The right decisions imperative.
Not knowing what to do, I did the only thing I could do. As I was in no shape to climb up after the fall, I began a harrowing descent down, into the abyss of the night, having no idea what I would find when I got to the bottom. The descent was so steep, I literally used a tree limb as a brace to slow myself down, praying and crying out to the Lord, trying to make one controlled slide after the other.
In one of the most terrifying nights of my life, escaping many nearly disastrous slides, and an equally terrifying river crossing in icy, swift waters, I had made it through the night and down the mountain. Morning was breaking and fields and a road were in the distance. With everything I had left, I made it to that road, just as one lone car, seemingly out of nowhere came driving up. The kindness of that good Samaritan I will never forget. He stopped and put this bloodied, strange American in his car and took me to a hospital.
After the ER put me out, to work on my leg, I woke up in a room they had taken me to. Upon opening my eyes, the first thing I saw, was a carving of Jesus Christ hanging on a wooden cross, attached to the wall right in front of my bed. As I stared at this Christ, I knew, I just knew it was He who had been with me through the night and it was He who had gotten me off that mountain.
And though I didn't come to Christ that night. That was the beginning of Him drawing me to Himself by various means, leading me ever onwards in His ways, until a few years later, I finally came to know Him in full. And since that day, I have never looked back.
And almost symbolic it seems of that mountain night, so my journey with Him has always seemed to go. He seems to have always led me by strange enigmatic paths. By ways in which I have had to take His hand and go with Him like Abraham into the night, by a way unknown, not knowing what I would find when I got there.
I hope this writing can be an encouragement to some. As I hope to use it over a few entries to try to explore the ways of God. What He is really asking. And I why I feel it so imperative in this day. God Bless! Be back soon.
End Part I