Yesterday I climbed a mountain.
Okay, it was really just a tall hill across the road from our house, but it was still a steep climb and I was huffing and puffing a little by the time I reached the top. The view was worth the effort, however. Hills and mountains all around; the sun on the valley flower below; the blue sky, with scattered clouds drifting by. God seems nearer when you’re on a mountaintop.
The valley I live in is beautiful, but sometimes it can be a little dark. The sun doesn’t rise over the eastern hills till later in the morning and sinks behind the western peaks earlier than I’d like sometimes. In the winter it can get a little depressing. That’s why it’s good for me to climb a mountain once in a while, to get a view from the top. It changes my whole perspective.
This world can also be a pretty dark place. Some days it feels like the sun will never shine again. We seemed doomed to wander through dark valleys, plagued by troubles, weighed down by our mistakes, and unable to see beyond the problems that rise up all around us.
Life can be hard in the valley, which is why it is so important for us to regularly “go up to the mountain of the Lord…” When we do “He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” (Micah 4:2). We must daily get a view from the top, so we don’t grow weary as we walk through the valleys.
The people of Israel had a literal mountain to “go up to”, with a temple on top where God dwelt. Obviously we don’t have that now. Instead we have something better. We have God’s Word.
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” As we open our Bibles each day, we are lifted higher than the mountains, into the very presence of our Maker and our God. Through daily prayer and Bible study, we can gain His eternal perspective and the strength and direction we need to walk safely through the valleys of life.
God promises in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Every morning, before you start your day, take time to “go up to the mountain of the Lord.” Spend time in His Word. God longs to “teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” (Micah 4:2).
This week don’t just wallow in the valley. “Go up to the mountain” and let God show you His view from the top. I promise you’ll be glad you did!