Roadblock, Detours, and Deadends

Sunday's trail run was to have been a 10 mile out and back on the Mountains-to-Sea, from the Rt 74 interchange to the Rt 25 interchange. I figured a 9:00 AM departure gets me back in time for a shower, breakfast, and the 11:15 AM service at my church. I'm almost four miles out, head and eyes downward watching the trail unfold before me (so as to avoid face-planting), and before I know it I'm within 10 yards of my friend pictured to the left.

This just in from the National Park Service:

"Many people worry about having encounters with bears while they are hiking or camping. If you do encounter a bear, do not feed it or get close to it. Back away slowly making a lot of noise and do not run. Never surround or corner the bear or bears. If you happen to be attacked by the bear, the National Park Service Black Bear Brochure advised to fight back as hard as you can with any object near you. Be as loud and intimidating as you can. They suggest that playing dead is not appropriate. "

OK, so I had no food with me, but I was already close to Mr. Bear. And I had been RUNNING toward him. Not good. I didn't even think about playing dead, but I had to do something. The bear moved off the trail, hiding just behind a tree a few feet from where he had once been. I decided at that point that continuing forward on the trail was not a good option - I may be committed, disciplined, and dedicated but I am not an idiot. I slowly turned, started walking and eventually running in the direction from which I came, looking back every few moments to ensure that the bear stayed put. He did. Thank God.

I ended up adding mileage by extending the run once back in Fairview. I could have called it a run just short of 8 miles, but I had committed to 10 and wasn't going to let an encounter with a bear take me off plan. No matter what we have already achieved in life, there will be times when we come up against roadblocks (or big black bears) to personal or professional progress. The question is not whether you're going to have roadblocks to success, but how you're going to deal with them when they come up. Many people choose to pack it in, as if the problem they encounter is a sign from God that they were never meant to pursue that dream in the first place.

I choose to believe that roadblocks are inevitable, that while we were promised abundant life in Jesus Christ, we were not promised a journey without barriers to overcome or tough decisions to make. God ALWAYS provides a detour around a roadblock.....it's up to us to be open to His detours and find the way He has mapped out for us. Packing it in and assuming that roadblocks must be dead ends isn't what God has planned for us. So press on, find the way around that roadblock, and BELIEVE!

"We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit" - 2 Corinthians 4:8