Of Mountains and God…

We have just returned from a 5-dayroad trip and my satisfied soul keeps replaying the divine art of mountain views, big skies and breathtaking elephants. Our Creator God is truly amazing and I wish I had His imagination!

I love it when we drive over mountain passes, even though sometimes the barrier next to me is only 1metre high, making the top of my skull prickle with adrenalin. 😊 It is summer and this semi-desert is hot and deeply still. In the words of a song from my school days, it is a place “…where the deep silence of Thy presence reigns.” Driving through the Karoo is truly BIG SKY country, and the road often stretches ahead for miles and miles in a straight line, as though seeking out the future beyond the jumble of mountain shapes guarding the far horizon like ancient battlements of green, purple and blue.

I have decided – if I should ever need a pseudonym, I would use ‘mountainlover.’ 😊As long as I can remember, mountains have moved me and have provoked me to worship. Of course, I’m in good company. Mountains loom in scripture from Genesis right into the New Testament and it would take a lifetime to meditate on every reference, but I recommend it highly. They are significant places where God spoke to people, and where they experienced God's power and protection. I love that the holy nudge always takes my eyes off the dirt that soils everything in this old world (including me) and places them on the Divine: ‘I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord…’

It’s many years since I heard a church sing ‘Rock of ages’ or ‘Oh God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come’ but I love to use them in private worship. I seem to always need reminding ‘As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore. Perhaps, without realizing it, my understanding of who and what God really is gets tainted and eroded because the world systems are so broken, and we get bombarded with their sins of commission and omission day after day.

So, when I find myself awe-struck by the mountains we challenge in our little vehicle, I’m grateful for the reminder and lift my eyes once again.

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