Matt 17: 20b
Last weekend I and my husband celebrated our twenty-eighth wedding anniversary. While it wasn’t as pivotal as these milestones usually dictate, we still felt we were in dire need of a celebration. The sheer grit and determination to stay together all these years in a culture that screams the mantra “if something is hard or worn out, get rid of it” deserved some recognition. I can assure you, we have survived more then our fair share of hard times followed by seasons of just being plain old worn out with each other.
We decided to celebrate by doing something that we used to do many years ago when we were dating…we went mountain climbing. Not the kind that you need climbing ropes and pulleys, but rather steep trails that wove their way through the woods to the top. The work was hard but when we got to the summit the view was so magnificent that it made the strain of the climb well worth it. This past weekend, we both became consumed with desire to re-visit this avenue of our lives. For him, I think he wanted to reclaim part of his youth but for me it was a different matter. Climbing a mountain had a spiritual significance to me. In a prior post, I mentioned that several years ago I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease that at first left me bed ridden unable to walk then barely able, for the better part of a year, to lead any kind of a normal life. I had come face to face with a mountain.
I wonder if you are currently facing a mountain in your life. Is there something that you are dealing with that just won’t seem to get out of your way? What would you characterize as your mountain?
The verse for today’s devotional tells us that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed that we can just speak to the mountain and it has to move. I wonder if you can relate to the following experience. I speak to one mountain and it moves but I speak to another mountain and it doesn’t seem to budge. What gives? Obviously I had mustard seed sized faith if I was able to move the one so why not the other.
I think the prophet Habakkuk might be able to shed some light on this for us.
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights”. Hab 3:19
Could it be that some mountains are meant to be moved and others are meant to be climbed?
I think God knows the exhilaration it brings us when we conquer mountains. The journey cultivates in us a strength and resolve that we didn’t even know we had. God knows when it would be better for us to get a mountain under our feet and when it is best to remove it. As Habakkuk trusted in the sovereignty of God, we can too.
As I meditated on this concept, I was reminded of the apparent differences yet total consistency between the Old Testament and the New Testament. What the Old Testament portrays in a physical sense the New Testament parallels in a spiritual sense. For example, in the Old Testament, the Israelites wandered in a physical desert while we as New Testament Christians find ourselves in spiritual deserts. In the Old Testament the Israelites had physical manna while we as New Testament believers, have spiritual manna. So in keeping with the parallel, while in the Old Testament there were physical mountains to be conquered, in the New Testament we have spiritual mountains.
I eventually found myself researching Old Testament passages on mountains and what I found was the kind of thing that sets your heart racing. Over and over, I discovered that God was on the mountain. You will find more then several references to the “mountain of the Lord” or the “mountain of God”. In keeping with the parallel, if God has called you to climb a mountain as a New Testament Christian, you can take comfort that He is all over that mountain.
What kind of mountain are you facing today? Is it an illness like me or maybe it has to do with your financial situation? Perhaps you have a relationship issue or maybe a mountain of responsibility that is overwhelming you. Take courage that you are not alone. Rest assured if God is inviting you to climb, He will be on your mountain. He will faithfully watch your every step, encouraging you when you feel weak and applauding your progress as you "go on the heights".
While I still struggle with this disease, I feel as if that mountain of infirmity is under my feet. This past weekend I felt the overwhelming need to prove it in a physical sense by putting on hiking boots and climbing. Near the end of our climb I confess I was overwrought with pain (No one knew, I have learned to deal with the recurring bouts of pain in silence. I hate to see people discouraged for me). I confess I was ready to bag it when the leader of our party of four decided to take a different trail then the one we were on. It was called Victory Trail. Jesus was on my mountain. I finished that climb that day and though every part of me ached, I was exhilarated with the victory.
What spiritual mountain in your life are you sensing needs to be climbed? Why not grab your hiking boots and backpack and go for it. Remember that if God is asking you to climb the mountain, He is on it. When you get to the top, Jesus will be waiting; He will put His arms around you; give you a drink of living water and whisper in your ear “I am so proud of you. Well done!”
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength, my personal bravery, my invincible army. He makes me to walk, not stand in terror but to walk on my spiritual high places of pain, suffering and responsibility." Hab 3:19 AMP
In case you are overly impressed with me spiritually. It wasn’t only my love for God that motivated me to finish the climb. Our friend and trail leader mentioned to me, just about the time I was ready to give up, that we would be stopping for pie afterward. Nothing on this planet aside from the Lord Jesus could have motivated me more at that moment. Truth be told we did get the pie. Can you get over the lavishness of God!!! Look at the size of that thing.
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