Mountainous Impact -- Awesome Majesty

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

You will note on this blog the backdrop of snowy mountains. One of my kids picked that out for me, because he knew of my love for the mountains. He picked it out, and I liked it well enough to keep it on the blog. I hope you like it too.

For about 10-12 years, a time frame from around age 20 to my early 30's, I made regular trips to the mountains of Colorado or New Mexico. Most of those years I was unmarried, so I frequently went with small groups of people. If it was winter, we all went to do some skiing in the fresh mountain powder. If it was summer, we would do some serious camping with all the amenities of home. We hardly "roughed" it, but we always had fun. For the most part, we had 2 trips a year -- one for the summer and one for the winter. If we had money and time, we might sneak in an extra trip for skiing.

But one thing stood out for me personally. I always felt close to God in those mountains. The crazy part was that at the time, I was not a Christian. But there was something about those high hills that I could hardly get away from. I found myself longing to go back. I even considered moving to a mountainous state. But I always "chickened out" due to fear or perhaps because none of my friends wanted to make the move with me.

Later on, as I relinquished my life to Christ and began to grow as a Christian, I began to pray about going in to ministry. Eventually, after a couple of years of praying, the Lord opened the door to go in to ministry as a pastor. Lo, and behold, the Lord sent me and my family to Montana for almost 9 years and then to Colorado for just over 8 years. Near the end of those 16-17 years, I suddenly realized something. The Lord knew my heart and had sent me and my family to minister in the mountains of the Rockies. It's funny that I never really looked at it that way until near the end of those years. I am not sure why that is so, but I found myself exceedingly grateful to the Lord for it all. I considered myself to have been hugely blessed.

Though we witnessed many moves of God during those years in the mountains, we certainly experienced some very difficult times as well. Some of those times were exceedingly difficult. But it was during one of the initial very difficult times that Psalms 121:1-2 became one of my favorite passages. It even became a beloved but simple praise chorus periodically sung in our church services. You see, in both Butte, Montana and in Montrose, Colorado, where we ministered we were surrounded by the mountains. It was easy, therefore, to "look" to the mountains.

I found myself "looking" to the mountains often during the sometimes excruciatingly difficult times. Here are a few meditations on the mountains that I found as I "looked" to the mountains. I will only share a few today and then finish with tomorrow's blog.

1. Imposing and awe inspiring -- Mountains will do that to you. They can be quite imposing and yet awe inspiring! I will never forget my first trip up the "Highway to the Sun" in Glacier National Park in Montana. It took my breath away, as it was incredibly awesome! When we think of "awe", we are reminded that we are to "fear" our God. Fearing God is not shaking and trembling in fear of an angry God. Fear of God really relates to having an awe of God. It means to be acutely aware of the uniqueness and holiness of God. He is incredibly powerful and yet incredibly loving and merciful. There is never a day or hour where He is not Almighty and in authority. Yes, He can be wrathful, but He is unbelievably long suffering toward us. He is everywhere at once with no place for us to hide. And He knows everything! That means everything! That should inspire us to stand in awe and walk in reverence in the light of His presence. That is the fear of God, and the mountains remind us of that.

2. How small we are and how big He is -- Many mountains seem gigantic! And they are! Compared to us, they are humongous! We are miniscule in comparison! And yet one gigantic mountain, can be held in the palm of the Lord. He is that huge and powerful. There are times that our difficult circumstances may seem bigger than we are. But no matter how difficult or how big they seem --- God is bigger! In fact, He is so much bigger that we cannot possibly fathom it. Scriptures make it clear that even the highest heavens cannot contain Him ! (I Kings 8:27)Mountains have a way of reminding us of that.

3. Majestic -- If there is one word that describes the Rocky Mountains, it is majestic. In my opinion, Montana's mountains are not as majestic as Colorado's -- with the exception of Glacier National Park. If I remember correctly, Colorado has 70-80 mountains measuring 14,000 foot plus. Each one of them is majestic! Montana does not have near that many. But majesty is the key word. And majesty speaks of a King and His authority. A King is usually adorned with color, magnificence, pageantry and a beauty only befitting of royalty. And that is what we find in the mountains. Mountains remind us that God is our King -- the only Omnipotent King and Sovereign.

See you tomorrow.