Living Forward, Understanding Backward
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, December 01 2010
“The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:24
OS HILLMAN: When I was in my 20’s, I participated in a wilderness-training course in a desert and mountain area. For our “final exam,” we were blindfolded, placed in the back of a pickup truck, and taken to a remote area. We were dropped off and told to meet back at the camp in three days. We did not know where we were. We had to determine our location with our compasses. It was a frightening experience for four young people who had learned to navigate through the use of a compass only a few days earlier. With our food and water on our backs, we began our trek. It had just snowed that morning, so the way was difficult. We walked through valleys, canyons, snow-covered hills, and forests. In all, we walked more than 60 miles in three days. There were times when we did not think we could go another foot. Exhaustion and frostbitten feet were taking their toll. However, we finally made it to our base camp successfully, and to our surprise, we were the first ones among the other patrols to make it back.
At the conclusion of our journey, we were able to stand on top of a ridge, look behind us and see the beautiful terrain that we had just scaled. The pain of what we had just endured seemed to subside. We could not believe we had actually walked through those valleys and snowcapped hills. There was a sense of accomplishment.
Life is very much like this. It is often lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road a bit that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale and the spiritual deposits He has made in our life as a result. When you begin to realize some of this, you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief because you know that God was in control all along. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but He was.
Are you in the midst of a difficult journey that seems almost impossible to continue? Be assured that God is providing grace even now to equip you for that journey. There will be a time when you can say, “Wow, look at what God has done because of what I gained through that valley.” Trust Him with the outcome of where you find yourself today.
OS HILLMAN
My suggestion, for those experiencing depression regarding the looming challenges, is to read
THE FINAL QUEST
by Rick Joyner,
which is available online at
http://99.198.110.36/FQ-Protestant/TFQ-en.html
You may get to the link for the Joyner book, (BTW, it’s a free online version), by going to
and scrolling down past links for Baptized by Blazing Fire, 23 Minutes in Hell, Join the Media Army, and Heaven is So Real, to the next section, THE FINAL QUEST and THE CALL both by Rick Joyner.
I offer this to you because it has served me well as a framework by which I may view the stage Creation is in currently, how believers fit in, and WHAT EACH BELIEVER CAN DO to not only survive but to thrive and to bear good fruit during this season; The Final Quest has been the MOST helpful source for me as I face the gross darkness and the difficulties that are imminent.
Note, at the site, there are also mp3 versions available.