Lava pile at the Fleener Chimneys in Lava Beds National Monument, California
A number of months ago, a social media friend posted a picture of a beautiful mountain scene. He wrote,
“Hiking up from the Lake Louise ski hill in October in Banff National Park I had planned to go over Boulder Pass & into Baker Lake, but got stopped in a series of squalls that did not let me get over the pass. I camped below the pass at Hidden Lake and each time I attempted to get over the pass I got blown back. I spent a few days down at Hidden Lake & enjoyed the wonderful autumn colours. After three days I didn’t have enough fuel & food to continue but in retrospect I was generously compensated for my failure…”
Autumn reflections in Barnes Gully, New York
How like God to “generously compensate” for our perceived failures! We find ourselves facing impossibility, turn away, and there is God, ready and waiting with something even better.
Jackson Lake from the Lakeshore Trail in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Call it a bit unholy, but sometimes I think He is laughing – not at us, but laughing because He knows how much we will love what He has instead of our goal or plan.
Wildflowers en route to Bald Mountain in the Uinta Mountains of Utah
King David – before he was king – was hanging out in Philistine territory because he was afraid Saul would come and kill him. One of the Philistine leaders took David and his men with him when the Philistines went to war – that’s how much he trusted David. What would have happened remains a mystery, because the other Philistine leaders sent David and his men home, fearing David would turn on the Philistines. David and his army’s plans – whatever they were – were shattered. Worse, when they returned home, everything was gone – their families, their material possessions, their homes, everything. But God told them to go after their enemies. Instead of fighting their own countrymen, as they had planned, they went after enemies of Israel, and came back not only with everything that was stolen, but so much more plunder, as well. There was so much plunder that David sent gifts to all his friends in Israel. (See 1 Samuel 29-30)
Peaks from Ptarmigan Ridge, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington
I have my own stories of God’s faithfulness in the failure – for example, on the day before we left for Washington state, I found out that every single trail I planned to hike was snowed in and, often, inaccessible by cars. In our failure, God showed up and we were “generously compensated” with three glorious days in Glacier National Park and another couple weeks of beautiful weather and scenery in central Washington that I might never have learned of if our original plans had worked out.
Mt. Stewart from Ingalls Pass in the Teanaway region of Washington
In life and on the trail, failure comes. Plans are disrupted, things break, people get in the way, and things don’t work out as hoped. Sometimes it’s even our own fault: we didn’t follow God the way we should have, we made bad choices, we should have done something different. We have a choice when this happens: we can sit down and die (figuratively, we hope!), we can mope and moan and grumble, or we can turn to God and rejoice in His faithfulness.
Rock formations in the Valley of Dreams, New Mexico
The “compensation” isn’t always glorious, especially not at first. But if it’s God’s plan, it’s still perfect. And you might just end up finding that it was better than the original plan, and that you have been “generously compensated for your failure.”
