I've Been Thinking

Mountains

We were out in Canmore, Alberta last summer for our niece’s wedding -and the breathtaking scenery astonished us. Around every bend, over hills and through valleys, new sights awaited. Wonder overcame us.  

Beauty everywhere

Nature’s voice rang lyrical and lovely. Creation’s glory sang. 

Everywhere we went in Canmore there are mountains. You cannot escape their majesty and raw beauty.

Each time we would leave our hotel room our eyes feasted – mountain ranges, green and rocky, sheer height towering. The mountains gathering the town in her arms.

The mountains

This verse came to mind; “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people.” Psalm 125: 2

His presence, Omnipotent. Powerful, protecting, always there, wherever you go. Whoever you keep company with – He knows, He, Omniscient too. You, never invisible, never unseen, never alone or forsaken.

Seen or unseen?

Last summer the forest fires burned hot and fierce in B.C., and the winds blew the smoke – belching, dense and thick into Alberta. A mere week before we arrived in Canmore, they told us the mountains were not visible, so opaque were the clouds of smoke. It was as if they didn’t exist, were not there. Although unseen to the human eye, though hidden by fog, the mountains were there.

No matter the sense of despair, the growing unease, and hopelessness, the mountains remain. Our feelings about the mountains cannot change their existence.

Faith…

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Heb. 11: 1

Though we cannot envision it, we can reach out – in trust. We can repeat the solid truths upon which we have grounded our lives. We live secure in the knowledge of who He is, and of His promises to never leave or abandon us.

He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He goes before us, is our Rearguard, is above us and below.  

Where can I go?

Psalm 139:7 – 12, trumpets this clarion call: “Where can I go from your Spirit?    Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there;    If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn,    if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me,Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,    and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

We, hemmed in by His eternal, profound love, and surrounded by His Sovereignty, His Mystery. We are wrapped in His peace, His strength, and His comfort. He sustains us, empowers us, gives us grace for each moment, for each day, week, month and year.

Let these truths sink in, a bracing tonic for uncertain times. Lean hard on Him, the Good Shepherd, our Rock and Refuge. The Lord, who surrounds us, enfolds and upholds us, is with us. Rest in this – let your hearts take courage. May that courage, strength, peace and comfort be yours, today and in the days ahead, dear reader.

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