While in Denver for Lead the Cause University, We used our free time and went hiking at Red Rocks Ampitheatre and Park just west of Denver. I had an experience there I will not soon forget. Our group chose to take a trail called the “traders point loop”, a 1.4 mile rugged trail. The description said it would take an hour. Thats about the amount of time we had. This meant keeping a pretty reasonable pace and almost no stopping. It also happened to be sunny and a warm 90 degrees outside in the middle of the day.
We made it through the trail in right at the amount of time alotted, and were pretty worn out. Rugged was the correct description. The thing we did not allow for was the park closing off the concert venue 30 minutes before when we were originally told that would take place. We had to go through the concert venue to get back to our buses. The park rangers sent us out and around the concert venue, making it an even longer walk.
During this hike, I made an important realization. I am not invincible. In fact, far from it. From the reactions I got from passers-by, I must have looked very sick from the combination of the pace we kept, the sun, and the physical exertion that I was not quite prepared for. My wife and the others in my group went on ahead to make sure the bus waited for me. I did make it to the bus on my own. I looked terrible. did not feel great either. Some water and some rest did a lot to help me recover.
At the end of the day, I had to come to the truth that I was possibly only a few minutes from something very serious that would have required attention from medical professionals. There wasn’t going to be much I could have done about it. That truth makes you vulnerable.
That place is someplace not all of us experience on a purely physical level. But many of us are all too familiar with it on an emotional or spiritual level. There us so much swirling around us and our hurts that we are just exhausted. God knows. He has much strength for you when you have none. He is there to help pick you up when you fall. Rely on Him.