Mountains

I love going to the mountains. I don't mean only the North Carolina mountains but mountains anywhere. I have seen some of the Rockies, other parts of the Appalachians, and mountains in Mexico and Albania. They are awe-inspiring and breath-taking all in one fell swoop. I have climbed parts of some of them and know how difficult a challenge each one can be. When snow, ice, high winds, and other natural occurrences are added in, the challenges are ratcheted up several notches higher on the degree of difficulty scale. I guess that's one of the reasons people love them. They are beautiful but also have a lot of inherent difficulty and danger included in the package.

Thinking about being in the mountains has brought these thoughts to my mind. Life is full of mountains and valleys. Most of the time, we view the mountains as being in a good place in life and the valleys as being in the depths of despair. But I think that sometimes, the mountains are the places we fear the most. These "mountains", i.e. seemingly insurmountable financial problems, grave health issues, or other such crises, loom out of nowhere and cause us to shrink back in fear from the danger and difficulty that we fear from trying to scale its heights. Climbing up such craggy pinnacles is not without unseen pitfalls and sudden peril. But I believe that God places these mountains in our life to show what He can do if we climb them with His help. We can climb these mountains knowing that God's hand is guiding us all the way and that He will never allow anything to cause us to fall. He knows our fears. He also knows what is waiting at the top and on the other side. His eternal view of our lives is from a much higher viewpoint than ours and He knows that when we look back, the mountain we have just labored to climb will look minuscule when compared to the joy unspeakable and bountiful blessings on top of the mountain.

Have you ever seen an eagle soar in the mountains? Mountains are great areas for eagles and hawks to soar effortlessly for extended periods of time. The updrafts are constantly being created by the uneven heating of the air surrounding the peaks and valleys. I often think that Isaiah either had recently watched or was watching an eagle soar with the thermals surrounding the peaks of Israel as he penned this scripture under the verbal inspiration of God...

Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isn't it wonderful to know that no matter how high the mountain, God will be with us for each precipitous step and when we reach the peak, we will soar with the eagles? What a blessed promise!