God took me on holiday... off the beaten track

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

When someone asked me if I was going to China alone, I didnt realise how prophetic it was when i uttered out, Yep, its just me - all alone with God. For the 7 days I was in Guilin/Kunming was as if God took me on holiday. Well, I guess if God blessed me with this free air tix, He has every right to direct the trip!Perhaps it sounds like I am just 'spiritualizing' everything, but as much as this was a very physical journey (I have never walked or climbed so much in my entire 50 years!), more than that it was a very spiritual journey with God as He unfolded along the way so many learning points, first of which was to...
obey God's prompting - As I passed by the $$ exchange counter at LCCT into departure lounge, I was wondering if I should change more $; but I shrugged the niggling thot thinking I shld be ok. Within 2 hrs of arrival in Guilin, I realised I was short of cash, having spent 1/2 of what I had brot on train tix to Kunming - certainly not a good start-- immediately I sms home for prayer... There was sufficient tho to get me to my 1st stop which was a very looong 4 hrs ride in 2 buses up to Longsheng, famous for their mountain rice terraces. On arrival at the foot, I was told it would be a 10 mins walk and offered a sedan chair ride up for a price. The cheapskate in me declined, as I figured, what's 10 mins walk... sap sap suey lah... here's the 2nd lesson..
Dont believe all that you hear - becoz the 10 min turned out to be a tortorous climb uphill over steep narrow steps and pathways, with heavy luggage to boot! Reminded me, in life, we really shouldnt just swallow everything that people say; only God's Word is Truth.
That aside, Longsheng is indeed very beautiful country, which made it well worth all the sweat. Somehow something about mountains always stirs my heart. I climbed to the highest viewing points early the next morning, marvelling at the fantastic view of row upon row of sculptured fields on the mountain sides. A sense of God's awesomeness hit me as I imagined how Moses would have felt alone on the mountain top with God. And it was on the highest point, literally out of the blue, that God met me up with a local guide who was leading 2 German tourists. He initiated a conversation and told me plainly to forget Guilin and head straight for Yangshuo, and that started me thinking; hmmm, could this be God's leading again?? Still I had a train to catch to Kunming first, and by providence this guide had 1 available space in his tour van to take me in, saving me 2 precious hours of travelling time back to Guilin train station... that's what I call a 'God-send'! Time enuf for me to locate a local bank to replenish my fast-emptying wallet. And from the 2 Germans i learnt a most valuable tip: the train station had a luggage dept where I could just dump my bags for a fee, so I could walk around unencumbered.
So it was onto the 2nd leg of my journey into Kunming, some 18 hrs train ride away. The 2 days I spent there again surfaced up many more learning points, first of which was that...
Proper communication is a must - We all know that's obvious, but in practise, how many of us really 'communicate' well? Kunming is a huge city; on arrival I called up the hostel I had booked and was given the name of a building to locate. But I neglected to ask its name and address, assuming that it was near that landmark. Result of incomplete and inadequate direction = 1 lost sheep in a very big city! But thank God He is ever the Good Shepherd - despite the initial blundering, I located the place, and still had 1/2 day to explore the city, which I thot should be a breeze. But it wasnt, which taught me a major lesson..
All things are indeed possible with God - What I had assumed it would be a quick walk in the park turned out to be a very long ardous climb up Kunming's Western Hill. The 6 km path led thru a trek of steps uphill much of the way. After the 1st 5 mins, I doubted very much I had it in me to finish it. As I huffed and puffed my way up, i found myself asking God, so what are You telling me this time?! He answered, When I am with you, you can do all things. I was reminded of the prophecy spoken over me there and then, of which I had 'complained' to Him several times that it was all too much for me to handle. Heaving my way up, I found my eyes stinging, not just with sweat, but with tears. Becoz He had chosen this way to show me indeed with Him, all things are possible, when it's His things. Indeed the higher i climbed, the harder the effort i put in, i saw stage by stage the reward - the view just grew bigger and better the higher I went. By the time I hit the summit, i could see 360 degrees of the entire city below me. 2 things kept me going the 2 hrs, trekking some 10 km over at least 1000 steps -
the promise of the view at the top - just like God's promises, the effort we put into this life of ours will be worth it
fellow travellers along the way - there were old, young, children, even dogs going up and down the same path; my heart rebuked me if old folks can move along with walking sticks and all, i should be ashamed even thinking of giving up!
So it was that I just focused my eyes on the next step in front of me, not bothering to look up at the many more facing me. Isn't it how that is with our lives? When God speaks His plans for us, we accept in faith, even if it appears impossible, inconceivable, even downright inconvenient; and we just go along with Him, 1 step at a time; and He will reward with the most fantastic results at the end of the journey.
The lessons didn't stop there. As i rested my aching feet in bed that nite, I prayed healing and more strength for the days ahead. By the morrow, my feet were well and ready to go on to the Stone Forest, a 3 hrs bus ride away. Again lessons were waiting in store for me; first of which was basic...
Don't be too quick to run ahead I had been told to catch bus 22. Happily i hopped onto the first one that came along, only to discover it was going the wrong (opposite) direction; which cost me an extra hour travelling time wasted. Same with life, ya.. when we don't bother to check where we are going in life, we will end up wasting it... By the time I arrived at the Stone Forest, it was mid-day, filling up with the usual noisy bunches of tourists. I took off on my own and found:
It's ok to go against the flow - whereas the tourist crowd took the easier less strenous way of hitching a ride on the tram to round the huge (and yes, it is huuuge) forest, I chose to walk and got to poke into places that the tram skipped. Isn't life is more fun that way too, instead of just following the crowd, if we allow God to take us aside individually, we will experience things that are out of the ordinary.
It's ok to get lost - thats the flip side of wandering off on your own. Becoz i avoided following the crowd, i ended up lost. After a while it just seemed like never ending steps going up,down, down, up in between stones and more stones. I was getting a little panicky as I prayed for God's angel to get me out..and behold, right in the middle of a deserted track, there sits a little old (58 years old to be exact) lady, who turned out to be a guide, esp stationed on standby in that remote spot, i guess, for lost sheep in distress like me! How reassuring it is to know no matter how lost i get in life, i have a great Shepherd over my soul to lead me home! and that's another related lesson in there...
It's ok to trust the expert - the hostel had given me directions , yet different people at the ticket counter, bus station and even on the street, told me it was wrong. Still I stuck by the word of the hostel people, trusting they were the experts who shld know - and they were right. So it is with our lives, when we know the One who is right, we can trust His Word to lead us in the correction direction, even if others say contrariwise.
Its ok to change plans - at the Stone Forest, God confirmed this for me in a most dramatic way. On one of the plaques was a cryptic inscription - you are sent here as an angel of God, not a traveller alone. Immediately i knew the word was for me. That more than a physical holiday, God had other plans in store. And there and then, i decided to change plans; instead of staying in Guilin, i wld head straight for Yangshuo, even if it meant losing the deposit for the room i had booked there. So it came to pass by the end of this trip, God opened up opportunities for me to share Jesus with 3 persons; all in broken Mandarin, 2 on the train ride and 1 on my final day, in the taxi to the airport. This to me was truly the highlight of my holiday. My only regret is not being sensitive enuf to 'close' the encounter with the taxi driver, who was so open and ready to listen. On hindsight, I kicked myself; I should know better, she had already informed i was the 4th person to tell her about Jesus..but i failed to pick up the cue; like a fisherman who got 'lost' in the 'fishing' and forgot to 'pull in' the net. So it is when we fall back on our own ways of the flesh, and fail to follow God's leading... I can only pray God right my wrongs in His grace and mercy for me and this precious soul...
Indeed every step of the hundreds of kms i trekked and bussed my way through, I have felt the nearness of God's presence with me. I had lots of time - to pray and to read His Word; much more time than I would have had at home. He taught me big lessons, small ones in events appearing so simple, yet bearing meanings so profound. Even as i travelled, l realised:
Our life is a journey of 'markers' we will pass through time and again. This sunk in on my 2nd day in Kunming as I was travelling along the same road, boarding the same buses, I learnt it pays to be alert to watch out for the familiar landmarks, so I could get off the nearest spot to get back to the hostel. So it is everytime we read His Word, we pray... these are every Christian's 'boundary stones', landmarks that keep us going in the correct direction.
God truly provides - I was so hungry at 1 time, switching 3 buses on a 4 hour ride to get to the famous Jiu Xiang caves outside of Kunming, I had skipped b'fast and lunch. I told God, if only He could bring some food on board... a woman stepped onto the bus selling fresh hot corn on the cob.. talk about immediate answer to prayer!
But God saved the best for last; He knew there was no way I could get round Yangshuo by myself,tho i naively thot otherwise, so He had already sent me the guide on the first day up on Longsheng Mt. When i contacted this man, he charged me a very cheap $200 for the day, which included all admittance tix for a private river cruise, a novel experience of Yangshuo water cave and a scooter ride round the country side to the unlisted off the normal touristy spots. As i floated down the Li river in the morning on an open raft, marvelling at the karst mountain landscape stretched out before my eyes, (it seems there are 20,000 mts in the region alone) I heard His voice in my ear... you have seen the works of man, you have seen the works of My hand, you have climbed mountains, gone into valleys and caves, now you are coming back to the living waters - the Source of all things.... How fitting it was that this trip should end with water; and I was moved to pray the river of God to flow all over the land of China.
The climax was the adventure into the water cave, an underground cavern filled with the most fantastic stalagmite/stalactite formations culminating in a dip into 3 different natural 'swimming pools' -1 ice-cold, 1 mud pool and 1 hot sauna - a totally out of this world experience. As i lay there, i was thinking - that's what the Christian life should be all about... a fantastic experience that's full, varied and exciting!
There is yet a final lesson to be learnt on the very last nite of my stay. I had booked a ticket to see the famous Liu Sanjie show, reputed to be an extravaganza of Chinese tribal dances, weaved into a love story, and performed by thousands of dancers, on an open air stage built on the waters of the Li River itself. The viewing stands could seat thousands as well. I was very much looking forward to it, but unfortunately the rain which had started in the evening continued unabated. They gave us plastic sheet raincoats to wait out the rain, but eventually the show was cancelled because of safety concerns over flashing lightning across the skies. I guess that's how sometimes we regret certain things that did or didn't happen in our lives.
But at the end of the day, when all is said and done, I would be content if i am able to say like the Apostle Paul, 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.' (2 Timothy 4:7)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever... Psalm 118

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