This last Sunday I was called away from church to go to work. I was able to enjoy the first 2o minutes of worship when my phone abruptly caught my attention. “Darn it!”, I thought to myself. “This was going to be a good one”. Reluctantly I took the call and then swiftly I was left the church.
It had been a normal week for me. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, yet there was just something missing. It felt as if I had a long list of things to do and I needed to get them started NOW! The feeling wasn’t necessarily an anxious feeling, as much as it was a longing one. As I was driving off I began thinking more about this. I missed God.
Consider how when you are thirsty, you are like an empty vessel waiting to be filled. Yes, you may be running on empty, but thirst also brings about an element craving. You not only need to be filled, you want to be filled. Another week would have to wait until I would be able to go back to church. As a kid I would have been ecstatic… anything would have been better than church. But, this day, I noticed myself being truly bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy the entire service. Not only was my vessel needing to be filled with God, but I craved it as well. I had experienced a brief taste of Him, and now He had my heart and attention. “That’s okay”, I told myself. “God is all around me and I can enjoy his splendor at any time, for all time”. My thoughts raced as if I had finally uncovered “the key”.
He Can Meet Me Anywhere!
I have those moments when I forget that God is with me at all times. I also forget that He doesn’t just reside in the higher powers of the church…He resides in each of us. For example, sometimes I will see someone go up for prayer at church, see others follow, and then even more come. I think to myself…”how will the pastor have enough time to individually pray over each person?” Then I see other members of the prayer team come up and help with the prayers. I’ve then thought to myself. “wait a minute! The others that have come for prayer are getting hosed because they are not being prayed over by the head pastor”. With that perspective, I’ve missed the entire point! We are all filled with the Holy Spirit. He lives in us, and He wants everyone of us to come to him and pray to Him. He deserves all praise, especially from those who struggle to praise Him. He wants us engaged with one another and He wants to be the center of it all. Just because I was missing church for the day, didn’t mean that I couldn’t still engage with Him or others. I understood it…I could still have Him even though I was being pulled away from church.
I Need My Church Family!
Skipping church (or going without church for prolonged periods of time), however, for the sake of convenience is not enough. I need to be engaged with others. I need to experience a dedicated time of worship, or relationship and fellowship with eachother and with God. For those who can’t understand this, it’s like being a part of a something that is so filling and inspiring that it brings you to tears because of the authenticity, acceptance and love. It is the most freeing feeling in the world and I want to share that with you! Although I love the mountains, I need my church family. Anymore, I’m willing to sacrifice my mountain time for my God time (never thought I would have EVER felt that way).
Ken - Alaska Backcountry Adventure - Ski Guide
Quite often I will hear people say comments such as, “my church is the great outdoors”, or “I don’t have to go to church because my church is here in the mountains while I’m up here skiing”. I totally understand where those comments come from because I once felt the same way. I didn’t have the perspective that I now have today. For example, in 2005 I was heli-skiing in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska. Ken, who was one of our guides, had come to a safety stop just before we entered the glacier section of our run and I was the first one to follow him down the previous section. When I arrived to where he was standing, the glacial ice was an astonishing color of blue and the mountainous backdrop was astounding. As we waited for the skiers in our group to approach us one-at-a-time, he turned to me and said, “man isn’t this amazing country?” I agreed with his observation, but then he started back up again with, “Are you a Christian?” At that point in time I had not accepted Christ nor did I really understand what “Christianity” meant, so my response back was a short, and awkward, “yeah!!????”. Without taking his eyes off of the mountain range in front of us he then responded, “man…how can a person not believe in God. Look at this…this is amazing…only He could orchestrate something like this”. And that was it. The rest of the group slowly made their way to us and that was the end of that conversation. But that short conversation has always stuck with me. Although insignificant at the time, he planted a seed that became a huge part of my life’s story. From what I understood about that moment was this… Ken wasn’t the “I don’t have to go to church because my church is here in the mountains while I’m up here skiing” kind of guy, instead, I suspect that he is much like the person I am today. I truly think that he is the type of guy who has a relationship with God, who reads the bible, who tries to carry out the great commission, and who appreciates and knows the power of God. Ken didn’t come across to me as a ski bum livin’ the posh heli-life. It was almost like he was doing what he loved while on a mission to engage. If so, than good job Ken!
The Church Has Made My Wilderness Sweeter!
Going without church is like expecting to become a doctor without even a high school degree. Being a Christian is a lifetime commitment and it requires constant learning. It’s not just a learning process because it’s also a transforming process. I want to see things different…why would I want to be miserable my entire life when I don’t have to….Lord help me to be happy with having nothing so that I can enjoy all circumstances that come my way! Easier said than done, but it’s possible.
When I was driving off from church that day I realized; 1) God can meet me anywhere, and 2) even though He can meet me anywhere I still need my church. The last thing I learned was this; I can go into this world with the confidence of knowing that God is all around me and within me, but I can’t get anything out if I don’t put anything in! My church family has made my wilderness experience sweeter. I see God in new ways and in new places.
As I was driving down the road I saw a bumper sticker with a bible verse. Even though I was missing church God wanted me to know that He was there (I was able to look up the verse later when I got to my destination). A short time later when I pulled up to the hospital, the car directly in front of me had a bumper sticker that read “God is watching you”. Another reminder that He is everywhere. Again, a short time later, God put I song in my head that sang, ” I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”. I had no reason to keep from smiling as I ventured into work on my Sunday morning (I was even going to work to help a friend, from a different company, cover a case which i wasn’t going to get paid for).
Now, when I do get that time away from work, and I do leave town and get into the mountains, nature is sweeter than it’s ever been. I think this is where Ken was. I find myself in awe, and I consider things that have never remotely crossed my mind. So have you ever danced with God? I have. I’ve done it my entire life, but I felt it and saw it for the first time ever on February 1, 2011. I’ve always seen God’s creation, but while on a ski trip I saw God in everything. His presence was all around me. Not only was He in a beautiful mountain seen that made me consider the power of God to move, shape and carve the mountains, but like I said…I realized my dance with God.
My dance with God
Skiing powder is a metaphor for the life that God intends me to live. Without God I could not experience His powder, my play ground, my heaven on earth. Without the powder I wouldn’t have been able to understand the personal relationship that I have with God, the power of God, nor the true beauty of His art. Skiing is power, grace, beauty, risk, and balance. Skiing powder is lively yet peaceful, forgiving yet firm, calm yet fierce, by sight yet by faith. God comes alive in the powder. He is a peace that engulfs me in His storm. He wants me to charge ahead while he holds me and keeps me at peace. He challenges me to be bold and take a line that has never been explored. He wants me to take that risk and he assures me to push it a little harder. He comforts me by reminding me that although he won’t necessarily stop me from falling, he will catch me if I do. He wants my love for the dance to be so strong that when I do fall, I can get right back up and continue with the same passion that he has graced me. He won’t say “be safe” and “be cautious” on the next time around. Instead he’ll say, “trust me”, “keep that peaceful intensity” and “you’re even more powerful than you know”. Amen to that!
Enduring the Test of Faith, for Life. 
I love this post! With my photography, I’ve really come to notice simple little things that God has made so beautiful in His design. I always feel like I can never capture that real beauty, but only a small fraction of the beauty God designed.
While working on the ambulance I discovered so many times how amazing the human body is and how it could only be God’s design. There is no way that the body was an accident. Especially when you look at things on a more molecular level. Take a look at the Kreb cycle for instance. It’s the only reason our body needs oxygen, to stop the cycle. It’s a perfect design and there is no way it was an accident.
Have you ever seen a real corpse. Without the soul attached, it truly is just a container and has nothing of value attached to it. It’s the individual’s soul that makes that vessel/container have value and purpose. How could that have “just happened” or “evolved.”
The more I looked into medicine the more it was obviously apparent that God exists and is real. I’m amazed at how many people who work in the medical field don’t believe in God and feel like they can control life and death. I’m here to tell you from personal experience that when it’s time for someone to pass, there is nothing anyone can do about it. I saw many cases where someone should’ve lived but didn’t. I also saw cases where the individual should not have lived but did. All of that points to the conclusion that we are not in control, but God is in control.
My favorite part to your entire post is your conversation with Ken while waiting for the rest of the group. Such a short simple conversation planted such a huge seed in your heart. We should all take the time to plant those seeds.
God bless!!