Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about big-picture things. Things like my future career and family, but also things like how I’m going to follow Jesus wherever he leads me in life. These thoughts can be daunting. Working in a career field for the rest of your life, raising a family, and living in obedience are massive undertakings. Sometimes I catch myself stressing about things that haven’t even happened yet, and maybe never will. It feels like I’m staring up at Mt. Everest getting ready to climb.
Well, I'm tired of fearing the future. I don’t want to worry about the rest of my life so as to miss the present. I want to have faith in God so secure that the mountains in my way excite me because I know I’m gonna see his power at work.
We all have mountains in our life we are staring down. Whether it’s the mountain of the future, the mountain of sin, or the mountain of a broken relationship, they are real and intimidating. But, they are no more real than the power of our God. My prayer for us is that we are people of the right perspective and the right approach to these mountains in our lives.
Perspective
The Oxford English dictionary describes perspective as “the attitude we have toward something” or a “point of view”. Perspective encompasses the fact that what we see penetrates our hearts and affects our attitudes. If our point of view is solely focused on the mountain, then we will see a strong immovable force and, in our hearts, we will start to believe that climbing it is impossible. Our attitude will become one of defeat before we’ve even begun. However, if we view the mountain in light of God, we see God’s power shine through. We start to believe that with him all things are possible and our attitude becomes infected with hope.
Problems in our lives are real and I’m not advocating for the denial of them. What I am advocating for is the acknowledgment of God. What problem could we encounter that God could not solve? What sin could we battle that God has not defeated? What future could we fear that God has not set into place? Our father is bigger than any obstacle in our way. To remember that, we must shift our gaze from the size of the mountain to the power of God. Then, we can begin the climb in confidence.
Approach
The second thing that I think is important when there is a mountain in our lives is the way we approach it. We can’t approach it with arrogance in our own ability to climb but with confidence in God’s. Climbing ourselves leads to failure because we aren’t made to take that on alone, but reliance on God for every step leads to freedom.
Even in our failure to climb, we can rest because we are not called to move mountains, we're called to follow Jesus. Knowing that he is the one who moves mountains gives us freedom. Freedom from fighting alone and freedom to rest. Whatever the path to the top may be, we know that it ends in victory. When we approach mountains with that in mind, submitting to our good shepherd, the climb is not only made possible but it is made beautiful.
As thoughts of these big-life things run through my mind, I want to be filled with excitement, not dread. Sure, the mountains in our lives can look scary, but they are just an opportunity for God's power to be revealed. By shifting our eyes from the size of the mountain to the power of God, and approaching it in reliance, we can be sure that our climb will end in victory.
God,
There are situations in my life that seem impossible. There are sins I want to conquer, relationships I want to heal, and fears I want to be freed from, but no matter what I do, I come up short. So, today I shift my eyes from the mountain to the mountain mover. You hold the world in your hands and the things that seem impossible to me are nothing for you. Please come and move in the impossible situations in my life. Do what only you can.
Amen.