© 2020 by Paul C. Buechel All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by Fitting Words LLC www.fittingwords.net Unless otherwise footnoted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE LIVING BIBLE, copyright 1971, 1972, 1977 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL, 60187. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked [ESV] are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked [HCSB] are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, TN. All rights reserved. Reprinted and used by permission. HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked [NKJV] are taken from the THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked [KJV] are taken from The King James Version of the Bible (public domain). John MacArthur. Twelve Ordinary Men. Nashville, TN: Harper Collins Christian. 2002. Used by permission. ISBN-13: 978-1-7331023-3-9
Introduction: Tales of Beasts and the Fire “Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.� (Isaiah 40:31 HCSB)
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiinngggg! The hair stood straight up on the o
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back of my neck. It was not quite dawn and -60 F, with a -90 F wind chill. I turned and looked around: nothing. It must be the cold. I turned back once more to gaze upon the icy landscape before me, purple and silent in the early light. Then it happened again: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiinngggg! I suddenly realized that this sensation definitively was not from the bitter cold but was a warning, that primeval instinct that prey animals have possessed for millennia. Spinning around, I saw the great ice bear, a polar bear or Nanuq, as the Inuit call him, fifty yards away and running straight at me. Finish reading this story within the pages of Rise and Soar
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I. Rise Above the Trees “I am recording this so that future generations will also praise the Lord for all that he has done. And a people that shall be created shall praise the Lord.� (Psalm 102:18)
Running trails in a dark and dense pine forest at the dawn of a crisp and clear winter morn, I was struck how, when upon higher ground or beneath openings in the tree canopy above, I could see an amazingly beautiful sunrise. Its red, orange, yellow, and pink hues were etched upon a deep blue sky as the sun peeked over the distant mountain. Yet when down in the bottoms, those low-elevation, thickly treed zones, I could not see much at all. In fact, it was still very dark and gloomy down there. I considered how, if I were a hawk, I could ascend to fly above these dense woods, thereby gaining a clearer and more accurate view of the entire situation. In a similar way, we too must get above the trees in each of our lives in order to be able to clearly see who God actually is and to learn what he wants for us, as well as to understand how we should follow him. We each need to transcend our dark woods and our trees, those distractions that darken our paths and make our vision gloomy. They adversely color and alter our days as well as our future destinations 4
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and, in doing so, steal our joy, our peace, and our fulfillment along life’s course. And even more importantly, they threaten to keep us from our ultimate rescue by God.
*** I will never forget my many experiences in the high Arctic and the great northwestern wildernesses of Alaska and Canada. I was often alone and out walking for hours, deep within primeval, misty mountains and dark rainforests, fog and blinding rain and snowstorms, and dense swamp-grass thickets, the domains of the brown bear, the grizzly bear, the polar bear, the black bear, and the wolf. At times I was very close to these magnificent creatures. We would commonly surprise each other with close encounters. Walking alone through the wilderness with senses on high alert, rifle at the hip and ready, listening keenly to every sound, head on a swivel, always scanning the perimeter around and behind you, including smelling for the cached carcasses these predators protect like royal treasure (or even catching the scent of the bruin itself ) is, while exciting, also very hard work. And you must be ever-vigilant to keep yourself safe. While God certainly did guide and assist me in these adventures, as he always does with those who truly know him, I compare these experiences to the many storms and dark forests we each go through during our lifetimes. We are all searching for something to fill us, and we look for answers to this life’s big questions: Why are we here? How did we get here? What is the meaning of this life? Have you ever been lost, either in the deep woods or in life itself, feeling confused on where to go, how to go, and when or whom to go with? Does your world seem a disjointed, discombobulated mess Paul C. Buechel, M.D.
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of seemingly hopeless issues, conflicts, hopes, and dreams? Are you unsure about how to attack and achieve? How does one try to deal with, let alone resolve, so many unknowns? The good news is that there absolutely is an answer. In fact, there is only one answer. Join me now on an inspiring journey that leads not only to joy, that is, to true happiness, but also to peace, fulfillment, and even rescue from the craziness of our world!
*** One spring day, while hiking a winding river flowing through a dark and dense mountain forest, I realized that, given all the meanderings I had done, I was unsure of the exact way home. However, despite being down in a dark morass of confusion, I was finally able to find a clearing where the mid-morning sun was visible. Now, I have followed that sun many a day while out in the wild, having learned what a truly great direction-giver it is. We all know the sun rises in the east and sets to the west. Knowing such allows one to easily tell north and south directions as well. If you face directly east, north will always be to your direct left, your nine o’clock, while south is always to your right, your three o’clock as these are termed. Discerning these directions early and late in the daytime is easy (as long as there are no clouds)! Midday gets harder. It takes a bit more time to watch how the sun is moving, by either visualizing its arc through the sky or by improvising a sundial with a rock and stick. With the latter, you watch an upright stick’s shadow movement by first placing a rock at its shadow’s start and then placing another at the shadow’s new site about twenty minutes later. This lets you determine the east-west line, as the shadow will move to the east as the sun goes on its westward course throughout the day. So, the second rock placed points east, while the first points west. 6
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God likewise desires to give us his map, his compass, and his direction. Consider this verse:
“Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word. I am but a pilgrim here on earth: how I need a map—and your commands are my chart and guide. I long for your instructions more than I can tell.” (Psalm 119:18–20) Getting back to my walk on this day, I was fortunate to have habitually done what I call checking the sun, as I was about to dip under the forest canopy. I noted where it was, relative to my position, and also how its course would be from my familiar starting point. (I learned this early on and taught my daughter to also do it each time she enters a forest, beginning when she was three.) This knowledge then makes it fast and easy, when in directional trouble, to look at the sun to show me my true direction home. In the same way, we are best able to move through our lives with proper and optimal directions if we keep our sights, our compass headings, fixed directly upon our Lord Jesus Christ. This fulfills our plans and goals without our feeling lost and will even let us feel rescued when in these difficult states. Whether we know him or not, our lives will have many dark forests to traverse, fraught with foggy mists, dead falls, sheer cliffs, deep water, grasping muck, and even some tough insects and predators. Such will occur in all our lives, whether we know God or not. Nevertheless, as Proverbs 3:6 tells us, if we in all we do “put God first,” he will direct us and crown our efforts with success. But if we do not, the opposite is true. Consider: Paul C. Buechel, M.D.
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“The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take. If they fall, it isn’t fatal, for the Lord holds them with his hand.” (Psalm 37:23–24) “He fills me with strength and protects me wherever I go. He gives me the surefootedness of a mountain goat upon the crags. He leads me safely along the top of the cliffs. He prepares me for battle and gives me strength to draw an iron bow!” (Psalm 18:32–34). God then gives us direction, if we will only stay fixed upon him and stay in his holy Word. His word becomes the perfect guidebook for our journey. Consider how knowing the physical sun in the above example makes it so much easier to keep one’s true course. Similarly, knowing God and his true Son makes it much easier for us when we lose our way in desperate times, those dark valleys in life. We can quickly and readily sail through such all the sooner and all the easier, putting them behind us—so different than if we did not know him. Taking time to begin to seek him and his guiding light is never a useless act. It will take you a bit of time to get to know him and to learn that you can always trust him to carry and deliver you, as he sees you through each dark wood that you encounter. Nevertheless, you will still receive his help and blessings. And soon, as he helps you through your current darkness or storm, you are eventually guided to the correct and saving course. You can now clearly see his guiding light through the trees, leading you home to the perfect place. He will show you how to get out of, and then to get above, their dark canopy. Even as the trees lessen, as you are coming out of the denser forest, you already will begin to see many new things. Your eyes being 8
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opened, you will then see things in the light of the true Son, as Jesus grants you his many blessings along the way. Eventually, you will be able to soar on wings (as in Isaiah 40:31) and see the end of the trees lying just ahead. That then opens into the beautiful panoramic vista of what now lies before you, not just in this life, now being lived with Christ as your guide, but also in the everafter, namely that glorious, eternal paradise with him! We must all realize that Christ’s cross, his sacrifice for us, is the one and only solid and reliable rock. It is the one that transcends all else, rising higher than any mere mountain or forest, no matter how tall and overwhelming such may seem.
“He himself gives life and breath to everything, and satisfies every need there is. . . . His purpose in all of this is that they should seek after God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and are!” (Acts 17:25b, 27–28a) *** On many forest walks, you will see what I like to call mega-trees, that is, three- to four-hundred-year-old giants. I always question, “How did they get so big and live for so long?” How indeed! They were rooted in good soil and received plenty of proper nourishment, water, and sunlight. In the same way, those of us who find in Jesus the true living water and the true light, that is, the real son, will receive optimal sustenance, grace, and blessings. These will allow us to grow to our full potential, becoming glorious and mighty oaks that tower over all those other much more numerous (yet more easily uprooted and blown over) smaller trees! Paul C. Buechel, M.D.
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I also question that if ten-plus generations of people, in the case of three- to-four- hundred-year-old trees (or even thirty-plus generations with redwoods or sequoias), lived and passed on during that one solitary tree’s existence, then how insignificant are human beings with all of our strivings, our anxieties, our victories and losses, all of our dramas, and our meager gains? Look at what God says:
“Lord, help me to realize how brief my time on earth will be. Help me to know that I am here for but a moment more. My life is no longer than my hand! My whole lifetime is but a moment to you. Proud man! Frail as breath! A shadow! And all his busy rushing ends in nothing. He heaps up riches for someone else to spend. And so, Lord, my only hope is in you.” (Psalm 39:4-7) Next, we will look at a series of important doctrines and beliefs that the true God, our heavenly Father, wants us to understand and to incorporate into our very being so that we will have a full relationship with him.
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