Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 (NKJV)
Hands down, the thing that most hikers think about on the Appalachian Trail (AT) is . . . FOOD! The next thing they think about is . . . MORE FOOD! Some days it seems like food is ALL we think about! 😊
There are several reasons for gorging ourselves on food fantasies. One, is that the average AT hiker burns between 4,000 and 6,000 calories a day; more if one hikes more than the average miles or carries a heavier than average pack. Another reason is that you do not have too many things going on in your life that you would classify as a luxury, except that is, having lots of good food to eat! The third and by far the most popular reason is that you eat a lot of the same things or type of things over and over again; you want something different. It is called, “TOWN FOOD!!” 😊
You cannot imagine how your taste buds even perk up when they get to town. Another wonderful thing about eating while on the AT is that you can eat several of your favorite foods at a single setting! AND! Not spoil your appetite for dessert!! Or, desserts even! My record is three meals at one setting. I only ate one dessert though. Yes, I know . . . I pansied out.
You fantasize about burgers (the half pound or one pound burgers are the best), pizzas (the plural is correct because if you buy two, you may have a couple pieces left for later), wings (do not bother with getting more and more of these because however many you get you eat them all), salads (for those of you who like them 😊), subs (two to eat and get one to go as you may wake up in the middle of the night hungry) and full course dinners (it depends if it is a hiker restaurant, but usually two are not a problem otherwise).
Food will never taste better than it does when you come to town after fantasizing about IT for several days on the trail. Not in a million, billion or even TRILLION years!
You do not believe me? OK, go put a thirty some pound pack on, walk all day “on a mountain trail” for say 6 days, and then go to town and get some town food. I can guarantee your taste buds will be salivating at levels you never before imagined possible. (If you want to drive your taste buds into a shark frenzy, take this hike during a cold, rainy spell.) 😊
Now, here is why I have described all of this for you. I am hiking on the AT through New York. It has been raining throughout the day, so mud is my middle name today. Soaked, is my last name. It has become a long day that is coming to a close pretty soon, only a few more miles to go. I have been fantasizing about food even more than usual because that is what you do on cold, rainy days. I am thinking about setting up camp in the rain and eating in the rain. (Neither of which are on my bucket list.) ☹
As I approach my last road crossing before camp, what do I see?! IT IS A PIZZA FOOD TRUCK!! I think, “Oh my goodness! I died somewhere back on the AT and did not even know it!! But at least I went to heaven!!”
Oh man, I tell you what, did I ever eat some pizza!! 😊 I waddled the last few miles to camp with the biggest wobbly smile on my face! It did not bother me a lick to set that tent up in the rain either; I was still in pizza heaven. 😊
Wow were the words of Proverbs 10:22 ever true that day. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. (NKJV) I think I thanked the Lord over and over again the remainder of that trip. I still honestly thank Him when I think of that amazing treat.
Ecclesiastes talks about life under the sun, life here on this broken earth and living in these broken bodies, as having a lot of monotony and struggles mingled with our adventures and joys. Significant portions of that day on the AT were filled with monotony and struggles with the rain and cold. Yet in a matter of a few seconds, the Lord turned it all into one of the greatest adventures and joys I ever had on the AT! And He did it with a PIZZA FOOD TRUCK! You cannot tell me God does not have a GREAT sense of humor. 😊
God rightfully allows us to suffer the consequences of bringing sin into the world and our lives in Genesis 3, but by His grace and mercy, He does not leave us to suffer these consequences alone. He does not share in our sin, but He shares the pain and struggles our sin generates. The shortest verse in the Bible concerns the time when one of Jesus’ friends, Lazarus, died and, “Jesus wept,” (John 11:35). The most intense suffering Jesus went through for us is found in Romans 5:8, God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (NASB95)
We are also told in Hebrews 4:15, This High Priest of ours (Jesus Christ) understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. (NLT)
Jesus’ whole life was not one great glorious adventure. He did not even begin His ministry of spreading the good news of the salvation He was going to provide to the world until He was thirty years old. There is only a couple of verses that even mentions Jesus in the gospels after His birth. He worked a job, had to pay the bills, did the laundry, did normal routine things, got tired like us, needed food and rest, etc.. Talk about hiking, that is all Jesus did! He hiked everywhere He went!! He rode on a donkey once when He presented Himself as Israel’s Messiah at Jerusalem.
In Mark 6:31 we find Jesus calling His own disciples together for a pizza break. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. (NLT)
Jesus knew I needed a pizza break on that day in the rain and cold. He knew I needed a little pick-me-up, and He knows me well enough to know what provision will pack the biggest punch. All of Jesus’ pizza breaks are not as extraordinary as finding a pizza food truck in the middle of nowhere on the AT, but they are common enough that if we are sensitive to them, we can find them every day.
The next time we see a pizza delivery go by or a pizza shop, let us try to recall the last pizza break Jesus arranged for us. We should not have to think too far back down the trail of life to find one. We have missed some if we do, and life has too many curves and hills, even mountains in the road for us to miss a single one! Let us be more sensitive to the ways God wants to turn more of the monotony and struggles in our life into some of our greatest adventures and joy! 😊
Faith Aids 