A Backpacking Trip
“But the fruit of the Spirit (not our own goodness) is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” - Galatians 5:22
BACKPACKING LOCOMOTIVES
Full of enthusiasm, twenty of us teens began to climb the looming treeless mountain ahead of us in the rugged eastern Sierras of California. After a few hours, the unrelenting sun, the weight of the backpacks, and the steep slope began taking their toll—especially on the girls. Then I got an idea.
I grabbed a couple of the bigger guys and we latched together like locomotives. The girls grabbed on behind us. Holding hands and straining with all our might, we tugged the seven girls up the worst part of the trail. Finally, we arrived at the first tree-shaded area which was positioned alongside a very refreshing brook.
“Praise the Lord!” rang out everywhere. Heaving their packs off, the girls showered us with big admiring thank you’s and everyone had a much-deserved rest. After cooling off at the stream, I eagerly returned to my pack for my secret stash.
ALL MINE!
My fingers probed deep inside to find it. Ah, here it is. I smiled. Good stuff, especially after a long hard hike. I tugged at my three-foot licorice rope and finally freed it.
I was so hungry. But then I looked around. Twenty other people…Hmmm, I thought, If I share it, that will leave only a one inch piece of licorice for me. Nah, too small. I grabbed the licorice, tore off a two-inch piece, and secretly shoved it in my mouth. Mmmm! I quickly stuffed the other 34 inches back into my pack. Luckily, no one had seen it.
Suddenly, I felt so small. Here were my friends, my dearest friends, and I couldn’t even share my ten cent licorice with them.
We started up the trail again and my disappointment with myself mushroomed with each step. I had tried so hard as a 17 year-old new Christian to be loving, unselfish, and sensitive, yet, after six months of monumental effort, I’d gotten nowhere. I couldn’t even share one tiny piece of candy with my friends!
BASE CAMP BLUES
After grunting, straining and wheezing up the mountainside for three more hours, we finally made it to our base camp. I popped up my tent, helped a few others do the same, then grabbed my Bible to read alone in my misery. I couldn’t shake my disappointment in myself.
I found a spot by the pristine little lake next to camp. Rugged peaks stretched far into the distance, bordering the deepest blue sky I’d ever seen. My despondent feelings were certainly not mirrored by my surroundings. While thumbing through my Bible, my eyes fell upon an unexpected treasure in Ephesians 4:23, 24: “Put on the new self, created in the righteousness and holiness of God…”
Suddenly, everything became clear. I understood why I was the way I was.
THE “DISCOURAGED WITH ME” SOLUTION
In one sense, we can never change as Christians. We’ll always struggle with selfishness and sin as long as we are not close to God. Real change is maintained only as we are connected with Him.
This is how we are able to receive His grace to be different. Then, and only then, are we able to be the new person we are in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) We “put on” the new self–which is created in His very image–by walking with God hour-by-hour. I was relieved and thrilled to realize my solution was in God—not myself!
Have you been discouraged with yourself lately? Don’t be. Don’t waste your time in regrets and remorse. You’ll never find in yourself the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, purity or self-control that you want and need. Nevertheless, God desires to give these to you.
All these remarkable God-given qualities come from the result–and only as a direct result–of his Spirit working continuously within the human heart. (Galatians 5:22) True Christ-like righteousness comes only by God’s strength, not by strained efforts of self-righteousness. In Philippians 1:11, the Bible calls the righteousness of a Christian “the fruit of righteousness”—not the effort of righteousness.
So don’t moan about your imperfections. Everyone on earth has his share. Rejoice, instead, that God forgives you. Rejoice in that a whole lot. Then seek His face today by reading the Words of God, praying for others and determining to be thankful.
Resolve to place absolute trust and reliance in Him. In this way, you’ll draw near to Him and you’ll find that He will meet you and His grace will strengthen you. (James 4:8, Hebrews 4:16).
DRAWING FROM GOD’S STRENGTH
It’s a process to learn the secrets of drawing from God’s strength. Paul said he could “do all things through Christ who strengthened him.” (Phil. 4:13) But realize he wrote this so strongly after decades years of growth as a Christian. He grew in God and learned much about what short-circuits closeness to God—things like pride, selfish thinking, impurity, self righteousness, fear and bitterness.
Keep making choices each day to trust God in and about every new situation. Seek to understand others even more than you do now–even if no one understands you– and to earnestly desire His will for you.
By doing these things you will put yourself in the position where God can do in you and for you all He desires to do.
And keep in the forefront of your thinking that you will never, ever, ever enter a place where you are not wholly reliant upon the living eternal God to live the God-like life correctly.
Remember the lesson of the licorice! By His power working in us continuously, we become the happy, loving, innovative people He created us to be.
“By the grace of God I am what I am.” - 1 Corinthians 15:10
Want to join in the camp ministry to youth?
I was helped incredibly by one man, Ralfe Kaiser, who took me on trips like this when I was a teen. It was on the first of his amazing trips for me that I accepted Christ.
One of the great dreams and desires of mine has been to help thousands of men and women do trips like this and others that we do that involve young people and their families.
We have been doing trips like these–many with whole families in groups of 60 and more into the wilderness–for over 30 years and have seen thousands of lives changed. We have also done much with families on 9-day family trips into the wilds with youth from Japan with phenomenal results.
Contact us if we can be of help to you. We have many materials to help with reaching out to American youth, their families, and international youth.
Good friends have begun something similar in China and other countries where they take the camps to the campers’ countries and take Americans to them to lead the camps. They also bring internationals to the States and minister to them.
They are doing a tremendous work with orphans. We’d love to put you in touch with them.