A Warm Up Mile in the Wrong Direction

Except maybe it's not as wrong as we think.

This past weekend I decided to try a new hiking spot.

It is a short hike that cuts through a canyon to a big staircase, and most of the online reviews said that it offered a good challenge without feeling impossible.

So I went for it.

I got out of my car and started up the path, I turned on a pump-up playlist that I hoped would carry me up the 200ish stairs like wings. I took pictures of the greenery that I immediately descended into and felt grateful for the breeze.

After a few songs, I checked my watch and noticed I’d passed the 0.5 mile marker that was supposed to be when you reach the stairs, and though I raised an eyebrow, I kept moving.

It must be right around this corner, I thought.

But then I crossed a muddy river and started climbing over fallen tree branches.

Hmm…this seems…wrong.

The night before I’d texted my mom to let her know where I’d be—just in case. And after a few more minutes of trekking into worse and worse terrain, I worried I might actually have to cash in that in case.

So I decided to turn around.

Maybe I’d missed a turn, maybe I could ask someone for help, maybe I’d typed in the wrong address entirely and was unknowingly trespassing. Either way, I knew I wasn’t that far from my car, so I went back. And it was on my way back, right before I reached my car, that I found the correct entrance to the trail. I must have missed it while setting my watch to track my workout.

So, with my shoes already covered in mud, a scratch on my knee from a rogue stick, and my heart already racing, I walked past the trail sign, made a single right turn at a tall tree, and then immediately saw the staircase in the distance.

Right. This makes more sense.

I looked down at my watch again. I had walked over a mile and had not technically even started the hike yet. But then, I flew through the hike, took a deep breath at the base of the stairs, and powered my way to the top.

It wasn’t easy, but at no point did I feel like I couldn’t do it or even had to stop.

I was already warmed up.

—

Sometimes it can feel like God is leading us in the wrong direction—a random direction that doesn’t make any sense.

We shake our heads, pointing, no God, that way!

We point down at the map, our two index fingers showing our starting point and intended end, and we ask why were aren’t taking a direct path, and instead seem to be zig zagging around down here when we need to get up there.

We don’t understand why God is “wasting time” when we’re ready to reach our destination right now.

The thing is: maybe we’re not.

Even though we’re feeling confident, even though we’ve read all the online reviews, even though all of our friends are going that way, God might need us to go this way first.

Maybe because he has a different plan for us, maybe because we’re not ready to go that way just yet, maybe because we need the warm up mile in what feels like the wrong direction before we can be fully prepared for what’s next.

It might feel like the long way, but in every category that counts, it’s the right way.