MOUNTAINS

As I was driving yesterday I came upon several small mountain ranges.   They were barren, a combination of browns and shadows, in the middle of the Arizona desert.   From a distance, it always seemed as if they were blocking my path.  The closer I got, the larger they appeared.  The road seemed to disappear right into the side of the mountains. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that the mountains were going to swallow me and my car whole!  But with each passing mile, the path continued to unfold in front of me.  I could easily drive through a passageway that was made for the road, unhindered by the seemingly insurmountable range of peaks that I had seen miles before.

I will go before you

and will level the mountains;

I will break down gates of bronze

and cut through bars of iron.

I will give you hidden treasures,

riches stored in secret places,

so that you may know that I am the LORD,

the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
Isaiah 45:2-3

I have found life to be just like this.  Problems or crises arise, looming in front of me, seeming to block my path to move forward in life.  But if I continue to travel along the road with confidence in God's guidance and protection, the path unfolds gradually as He leads me through even the toughest of situations.  It may take "miles and miles" before I actually see that I am making progress through to the other side.  But eventually it happens - I come through and am refreshed.

... say to the captives, ‘Come out,’

and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
They will neither hunger nor thirst,

nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.

He who has compassion on them will guide them

and lead them beside springs of water.
I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
Isaiah 49:9-11

Thank you dear Lord for the mountains that teach me to rely on you more every day, and thank you for the road upon which you set my feet. May I never stray from the course you have appointed for me. Please give me the faith to trust in you and your ways, the strength to make it through each mountain range, and the knowledge of how you want me to use those paths I have travelled to your glory. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!

Written by Jan Andersen