On a recent trip to Colorado, I was struck by how many mountains I could see on the horizon. At one point, I could see mountains literally every direction I looked.
You have to understand, for Okies like me, mountains are harder to come by in our state. In other states, though, there are so many mountains you cannot miss it.
Mountains, as a theme in the Bible, are hard to miss, as well. I recently read a web posting that talked about some of the most significant mountains in the Scriptures.
In the Old Testament, there’s Mount Ararat, where Noah’s ark rested after the flood. There’s Mount Moriah, where Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, before God Himself provided the substitute. There’s Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments from the Lord.
In the New Testament, there’s the Sermon on the Mount. There’s the Mount of Olives, where multiple events during Jesus’ earthly ministry took place. Finally, there’s Mount Zion, a picture of God’s city and heaven itself.
Not all mountains are positive, though. In fact, our personal problems may also seem like mountains as we go through life. They loom so large we can hardly notice anything else.
For some, a relationship problem could be your mountain. For others, it’s a health issue, or a sinful addiction. For still others, your mountain is a financial burden.
Whatever mountain happens to be in front of you now, it may seem insurmountable. As many people have often noted, “the closest mountain is the tallest mountain.” In other words, our current problems, though they may objectively be smaller than prior ones, they often seem the largest.
What do we do in those cases? The Bible tells us we can and should turn to God in faith and in prayer. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you’” (Matt. 17:20-21).
Whenever we have a mountain of a problem in life, take it to the Lord in prayer. Don’t face it alone. You can share your burden with a trusted Christian friend. Ask them to help you face this mountain. Finally, believe that God can and will move the mountain, in His perfect will and timing.
The famous Christian author, Corrie Ten Boom, who was wrongly imprisoned and then survived the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp, talked about calling on God’s help in times of trouble. She said, “Perhaps only when human effort has done its best and failed, (will) God’s power alone be free to work.” That is a great word from someone who faced more mountains that most of us ever may.
In the end, this is all easier said than done, because left to our own flesh and devices we tend to hold onto our problems instead of yield them to the Lord. Yet when we learn to trust the Lord with the mountains we face, we will reach a spiritual summit and height that we would otherwise never see. And that type of mountain view will be the best of all.
