Every day driving home from Fremont to San Jose in California San Diego Big Sur marathon – a course notorious for its mountainous terrain. If we were going to run that race, we needed to start climbing mountains! My mind instantly recalled the dome in the mountains and I thought to myself, ‘We are definitely going to go there.’
The dome turned out to be the famous Lick Observatory, originally built over 100 years before after explorers pinpointed the highest point of Mt. Hamilton. This discovery made me even more excited about running there, and all I needed to do was plot a course that would take us there and back in 14 miles. Opening up some internet mapping tools I found that there was a campsite parking lot about 7 miles from the observatory, so Gabe and I decided to meet there the following Saturday morning. The morning we arrived there was a beautiful cloudless blue sky with chilly gusts of wind blowing occasionally, but nothing to prevent us from running. Gabe was justifiably intimidated at the prospect of running seven miles uphill, but I assured him that we would keep a reasonable pace.
As we began running up the highway leading to the observatory, I began to feel in my spirit that God wanted to use this run to teach us something. As we got closer to the dome the sun could be seen glinting off its silvery surface, and our excitement rose at the thought of actually placing our hands on it. It was as if that dome nestled high in the mountains represented heaven, and our run was like our life as we fixed our eyes on the goal. Getting closer and closer our pace increased – until the road took an unexpected turn and began descending! We had already run for what seemed like a long time, and now the road seemed to moving in a direction completely opposite to the dome. I could sense Gabe getting a little worried as the road continually plummeted downhill and the dome escaped our view. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew that God was with us in this run and we needed to press forward.
I told Gabe, “If God wants us to turn around – He will make it very clear to both of us.” Gabe agreed and we kept on moving by faith and waited for the moment that God gave us a release to turn around. Eventually the road began to ascend once more and looped back toward the dome, but we were left aghast when we reached a sign that said, ‘Lick Observatory – 5 miles’! We had already been running for what seemed like forever, and it was still another 5 miles away. But yet, there the dome was clearly in view again – and I felt strongly in my spirit, “You must press on!” It didn’t make any sense at all, because to go there and back would bring our total mileage to well over a marathon – something we simply weren’t capable of. However there was no release for us to turn around, so we kept forging ahead as icy cold blustering winds began to beat at us.
Even with our weary joints and discomfort our excitement continually arose as we neared the dome, and when we finally arrived we both experienced one of the greatest moments of triumph in our lives. Both of us ceremonially walked up to the dome and placed our hands on it, and we turned around to look at the valley sprawling from the distant south all the way to San Francisco
Noticing our running attire she was shocked when we told her that we had run up the road to the observatory. After hearing our story she told us that the road we ran up was designed for horse and carriage years ago, and the road took a long and circuitous route because they were only capable of handling a limited incline. The woman then proceeded to give us a personal tour of the facility and demonstrated the 100 year old telescope in the dome. As we were speaking a man and his young child stepped up, and noticing our attire asked us how we got there. It turned out that the man and his son were camping out where we began our run, and he said to us “It is freezing out there right now – do you guys want a ride back?” Our answer was a resounding – YES! It turned out that our run to the summit was 14 miles – exactly the distance we wanted to run that day.
Gabe and I left that day rejoicing and thanking God for the amazing experience and symbolic parable he showed us. God often places us on a path that we don’t understand, that seems to be taking us to a place other than our goal. But God is faithful and brings us to that final destination with victory when we trust in Him. Ultimately that final destination for all of us is heaven – and what a joyous occasion it will be when we finally arrive there. But until then God’s Word exhorts us to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.” –Proverbs 3:5-6
