At one point in his life, author John Eldredge was trying to choose between going to graduate school
and accepting a high-paying job in Washington, D.C. On p. 202 of his book "
Wild at Heart," Eldredge shares how God helped him to sort things out during a visit to the mountains:
Life makes more sense standing alone by a lake at high elevation with a fly rod in hand. The tentacles of the world and my false self seemed to give way as I climbed up into the Holy Cross Wilderness. On the second day God began to speak. John, you can take that job if you want to. It's not a sin. But it'll kill you and you know it. He was right; it has False Self written all over it. If you want to follow Me, he continued, I'm heading that way. I knew exactly what he meant -- 'that way' headed into wilderness, frontier. The following week three phone calls came in amazing succession. The first was from the Washington firm; I told them I was not their man, to call somebody else. As I hung up the phone my false self was screaming what are you doing?! The next day the phone rang again; it was my wife, telling me that the university had called wanting to know where my first tuition installment was. On the third day a call came from a longtime friend who had been praying for me and my decision. 'We think you ought to go to school,' he said. 'And we want to pay your way.'
Getting away from the busyness of life really can help us to slow down and contemplate decisions. I find the shores of Lake Superior particularly peaceful.
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