{"id":338,"date":"2013-02-01T22:19:50","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T22:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soterion.net\/?p=338"},"modified":"2013-06-12T05:30:37","modified_gmt":"2013-06-12T05:30:37","slug":"a-day-in-narnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/?p=338","title":{"rendered":"A Day In Narnia"},"content":{"rendered":"

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps<\/strong><\/em>.
\n\u2014Proverbs 16:9<\/p>\n

\"Snowshoeing<\/a>Last weekend, we had our annual snowshoeing trek on the Gunflint Trail with the Up North Gang. The beauty is simply indescribable. It\u2019s like stepping into the movie based on C.S. Lewis\u2019s Narnia<\/em>. Imagine a world without \u201cwhite noise;\u201d a world where all the background noise is completely gone, except for the crunching of snow shoes and the occasional sound of human voices breaking into a magical silence. Single file, we head up the narrow, winding trail with the tall pine trees forming a snow covered canopy around us. As we brush against the trees, millions of snowflakes flutter and shimmer around us like glitter.\u00a0 We can\u2019t see too far ahead; we see only the person and the trail immediately in front of us. The landscape changes with each bend in the trail as a new scene delights our senses. Our leader knows the trail. He forged much of it. He plows through the fresh snow, and step by step, we follow in his tracks. We stop periodically along the way to rest, regroup, make adjustments to our gear, and just revel in the beauty of God\u2019s creation. We have a general idea of where we\u2019re headed and we delight in the unexpected surprises our leader has planned for us along the way. Time doesn\u2019t matter in Narnia. We\u2019re in no hurry to leave this enchanting, peaceful place.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As I trudged through the snowy trail, I was reminded of the old hymn by Fanny Crosby, \u201cAll the Way My Savior Leads Me.\u201d\u00a0God mapped out the perfect trail before I was born (Psalm 139:16).\u00a0 He promised to give me a future filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11). He walks the trail ahead of me and designed plenty of rest stops along the way (Psalm 139:3). Each day, He guides my steps. When I stumble, He lifts me back up again. He delights in every detail of my journey (Psalm 37:23-24). He puts friends on the path to walk with me and keep me going in the right direction (James 5:19-20). \u00a0 In spite of this perfect trail, sometimes we like to think we have a better route. We stray off the main path, walk ahead of Him, or forge a different trail altogether. Sometimes we get so busy focusing on the destination that we miss the beauty and the delightful side trips God has planned along the way. Often, we want to know where the trail is leading. We want to see the whole picture. We want to know what\u2019s around each turn. And we get frustrated when God won\u2019t reveal all the answers. But God will only mark the trail in front of our feet and let us know what He wants from us today. When we obey immediately and step forward, He\u2019ll plow ahead and leave a few more tracks to follow. Day by day, step by step, He reveals His plans. Sometimes we grow impatient with His pace and frequent rest stops. We might even try to take the lead and trudge through the trail ourselves. We meet resistance and then we wonder why the trail through life is so difficult.\"Howie<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural for us to plan.\u00a0 God made us this way. But He wants to be at the center of our planning. He wants to direct our steps. Our past, present, and future are all in His hands, so it\u2019s pointless to trudge ahead without Him. Our plans will always fall short of our expectations and we will encounter unnecessary difficulties if we leave Him out. He expects us to hold loosely to our trail map. In doing so, we are free to deviate from the plan when God has a better idea. His timing is perfect. He will use these side trips and rest stops to teach us obedience, build our faith, and reveal His goodness as we learn to lean on Him.<\/p>\n

\"Up<\/a>No, you really can\u2019t be certain what\u2019s at the end of trail, or even around the next corner. But we can always be certain of God. And God wants to bless you infinitely more than you would ever dare to ask or hope (Ephesians 3:20). As you trek through the trail of life today, pray that the desires of His heart become the desires of yours. Trust that He loves you and wants the very best for you. Then go ahead and make your plans. Maybe I\u2019ll see you in Narnia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. \u2014Proverbs 16:9 Last weekend, we had our annual snowshoeing trek on the Gunflint Trail with the Up North Gang. The beauty is simply indescribable. It\u2019s like stepping into the movie based on C.S. Lewis\u2019s Narnia. Imagine a world without \u201cwhite noise;\u201d a world where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=338"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":460,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions\/460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjnelson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}