Friday, August 17, 2012

Catching 300 foxes.

The first seven miles of our 11-mile hike yesterday were amazing.  I was definitely tired, and my knees were hurting a little, but I was plugging along.  The scenery in Glacier Park was breathtaking.  We stopped to see mountain goats and big horn sheep.  The wildflowers were in full bloom.  The sun was shining with a slight breeze.  A perfect day. 

Then we started the descent of the last four miles.  That’s when iliotibial band syndrome struck.  It’s inflammation of the band of tissue on the outside of the knees, and it causes excruciating pain with every step when going downhill.   

Four miles left in our hike, and all of a sudden I was moving like a 90-year-old, gingerly making every step down with sharp pain.  At that rate I was thinking we would get down the mountain in approximately three years. 

Matt came back to check on me, and I was in tears.  And panic.   

I don’t know how I’m going to finish this hike.  There’s no way with this pain. 

He offered to carry me the last four miles (how romantic is that?)  But I knew I had to finish the hike. 

That’s when I prayed. 

This morning I was reading about Samson who had the Spirit of the Lord on him to go against the Philistines.  “So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs.  He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines.”  (Judges 15:4-5  NIV)   

How does a person catch 300 foxes?  And I’m thinking –once you catch a few foxes, what do you do with those two while you’re catching the other 298?  Ridiculously impossible, unless the Spirit of the Lord is on you. 

That’s where I was on the hiking trail yesterday.  Staring at four miles of impossible.  Lord, I can’t do this unless you help me. 

I figured out a way to spread out my gait (which I’m sure looked ridiculous) to shift the pressure off my knees, and I made it down the mountain in a few hours.  A miracle of God –I’m not kidding you.  I can’t believe I made it down. 

The same God who gave Samson the strength and ability to round up 300 foxes and tie their tails together is standing at the ready to be our help. 

All we have to do is ask.

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