Hiking the Dam

So, I was spending a few days in Boulder City, NV and camping at Lake Mead. When I notice a trail that leads to the Hoover Dam. It’s only a 3.5 mile trail so I figure “Why not, Tomorrow I’ll take the trail to the Hoover Dam.” I wake up the next day and figured I would go ahead and walk to the Trail Head from my campground since it was just a couple miles up the road. I begin my walk and see an Entrance to the beach. “Hey I’ll walk the beach to the trail head that sounds like more fun.” So I work my way over to the beach and have a great time watching the sailboats along the way (There was some sort of race happening.) I get to the end of the beach and of course come to a patch of difficult walking. Through tall weeds, mushy ground, dirty, trash spread around the area, etc… Finally I make it around all this and into the Marina. I decide to head into the Marina and ask if I can catch the trail there or if I need to walk the half mile reverse of the trailhead to catch the beginning. They told me I would need to walk back or climb up the very difficult rocky incline to hit the trail. I of course decide to go up the incline. I don’t know about you but I have always hated the idea of walking backwards to move forward. Some call it lazy I like to call it efficient. So I begin the climb and it wasn’t really all that bad I make it to the trail and begin walking. Now this is an old railroad trail that they used to build the Dam. After the dam was complete they took out the rail and made it a walking trail. It was my understanding that this was a smooth trail that walkers, runners or bikers could take. But I’m walking on rocks. It’s not a hard walk but definitely not the smooth trail I was expecting. As I continue I see the trail split in two directions and it’s not labeled which way to go. So I take a guess and think wow these guys are not good at marking the trails. I move forward and it happens again. Now I’m climbing a pretty steep embankment after the climb I go down an even steeper one. I can’t believe trains ever followed this thing it seemed too steep for a train and the turns too sharp. I found myself sliding down the hill if I didn’t hit a solid rock.. After about two miles of this type of terrain I turn a corner and merge onto a smooth trail. I see another couple walking the other direction and I realize that I just landed on the real trail the other was not a trail at all but work paths for the electrical lines workers. The rest of the walk was smooth just as I had expected and I saw runners, walkers, bikes.

How many of us as we try to walk a path to God decide to take a short cut? We think “I can veer off the trail just a little bit right here and it wont hurt that much because my eyes are still on the trail. Next thing you know you’re walking a pretty rough path back to where you once were. Here’s the thing God has built a clear path to him through his son Jesus Christ. He tells us just stay on this trail and you will make it to me. The world we live in/Satan has put along this path some very enticing things to pull us off the trail and he puts them just barely off the trail so we don’t think it’s a big deal to take a small step off. But when we do we see something else a little further away and we go there and then something else and then another something. Next thing you know we can’t even see the trail we used to be on we don’t think we can ever make it back so Satan then moves in and says you might as well give up on the trail. My first word of advice is this. Don’t leave the trail! But we all know that isn’t going to happen. We all at some point in our journey are persuaded off. Which leads me to my second point. When you do fall off the trail and Satan is saying just give up. Tell him to shut up and then yell out to the trail. That’s right yell out to the trail. Our trail is alive and he will answer back I’m over here. Then he will tell you how to get back on the path. It may be a rough journey back but you’ll find it’s a rewarding one. I had fun on my pseudo trail to the dam but it was tough and I didn’t take it again on my way home.

Where are you on your journey? Have you wondered off the trail a little bit. Don’t worry about it. GOD STILL LOVES YOU! He’s waiting for you to turn around and walk into his arms so DO IT! Are you doing pretty good? You’re still on the trail. Look around for those that have fallen off. Let them know where the trail is and then offer to help them back.

Well Gang that’s my two cents worth. Hope you’re having a great week. Don’t forget Lets “Live it upside down!”