There was a young man hiking in the wilderness, enjoying the beauty of nature and admiring what he saw and heard. After a few hours though, he started to feel as though he was simply going in circles. He wasn’t quite lost, but he felt as though there must be more to experience.

After a while of having these thoughts and continuing to walk, he came up to a rest area where he met another hiker. He initiated conversation with this fellow nature lover, hoping that he might gain some wisdom from this man who looked as though he had hiked this and other trails a hundred times before. After listening for several minutes, the experienced hiker asked if he could join the young man on the remainder of his journey. Excited at the possibility, the young man accepted and they began to walk side by side down the trail. As they walked, the more experienced hiker asked questions such as, “Is this your first time on this trail?” “Do you hike often?” “What have you experienced so far?” and “What are you hoping to experience?” Throughout their conversation, the experienced hiker would point out things on the trail that the young man didn’t notice at first. Things like the calls of different birds and the names of flowers and trees. He didn’t talk much about his own experience hiking this trail, but he focused on helping the young man experience the hike in way he wouldn’t have on his own.

After a few hours of walking together, they came up to another rest area. Though the young man was eager to continue with his new hiking partner, the experienced hiker urged him to go on by himself. He reminded him of some of the wisdom for good hiking: keep your eyes open, pay attention to sounds, and take your time and enjoy the experience. The young man now had a renewed excitement about the unknown adventure that was ahead of him and went ahead on the trail no longer feeling as though he was missing something, but feeling like he was finally experiencing the trail the way it was meant to be experienced.

We all need someone in our life that will come alongside us as we move through our journey with Christ. Someone to help us see things in a new light and help us to experience the “with-God” life in greater depths. Perhaps you either feel like you need someone to come alongside you, or maybe you can be that person to someone else. The place to start is in your conversations. Every conversation can either help someone along the journey or hinder them.