Going Through Hell to Get to Heaven
6/3/20262 min read
It was a silent 5.5 mile drive on the unpaved road. When David and I signed up to visit the remote hot springs that involved winning a lottery, we were given explicit instruction as to the condition of the road. I lost track of how many times I heard… “It’s a really bad road!” They asked about the kind of vehicle we were planning to drive more than once. The unspoken conclusion to the conversation was ‘You’ve been warned, so don’t come crying to me if you have problems.’
Having made the same trip a couple of years earlier, we thought we knew what we were getting into; we didn’t. Heavy rains washed out huge holes in the unpaved rocky road. More than once David stopped our vehicle at a particularly bad spot, got out and stared into the deep gully that threatened to eat us alive. The last stop, ½ mile from the trailhead won–we parked the car and added an extra ½ mile to the 5 mile hike into the hotsprings.
Okay, that’s the bad news. The good news is that the hike in -long but flat- followed a beautiful river through that golden spring green of the woods. We arrived at the hot springs a bit winded but excited. For the first hours we were the only 2 of the 20 people that were given permission to visit the area that day. We luxuriated, hearing nothing but the sound of water tumbling over the boulders of the river just a stone’s throw from the spring.
I was able to stretch out in the small pool, look up and enjoy the view of the dappled sun rays dancing on the warm mist floating up from the warm pool. Hummingbirds flitted among the surrounding shrubs, sharing the flowers with wandering bumblebees.
If I got too hot- which I did at times-I could walk the very short paved path to the ‘cold’ pool. Make that the freezing pool. I tried to stay 30 seconds in the ice bath but spasming blood vessels in my limbs from the frigid water almost always chased me out before I reached my goal. The exhilaration of my whole body tingling for several minutes after these cold plunges was worth the spams!
It was a divine experience. And though the drive in was rather hellish, it was quickly forgotten, swallowed up in the joy of the God-given gift of the day.
Sometimes our journey through this world feels like that drive into the trailhead. It can get so bad that it leaves us overwhelmed and speechless. Our prayers become nothing more than groaning in the depths of our spirit. But God hears and doesn’t leave us there. He takes us by the hand and leads us to a special place of communion with Him that is nothing short of heavenly.