Touching Clouds

I will not lie, my heart was beating a little faster than normal as the tires of our large nine passenger van came ever so close to the edge of the shear cliff. The long narrow road and the blind corners of the switchbacks made for an uneasy muscle tensing trip up towards the summit of the mountain. As we got higher, soft patches of snow began to line the side of the road and an occasional mountain goat would watch us as though we were the wildlife.  As I watched out the window, it appeared as though we were getting so close to the clouds that I might be able to reach out and touch one.  As that thought made its way through my senses I forgot about how high we were and how close we were to death at every turn.  Noticing my childlike gaze up at the clouds, the driver leaned over and jokingly said, “I wonder if God hears our voice louder from here?”  Even though the driver, whom I would call a good friend after that trip, was joking it provoked my mind to thought for a moment taking it away to a different place altogether.

I began to think about my relationship with God and how often I feel as though I have to climb (or drive) up some mountain just so He will hear me or so that I could experience Him in an intimate way.  Have you ever felt that way?  Has this ever been a pressure that has weighed on your heart and soul?  My mind, heart and soul are constantly being battered with these thoughts.  As I reflected more on this thought and how often I saw this mindset working itself out in my life, God brought Psalm 113 to my mind.  This was a passage that we had studied earlier in the year. It reads:

1 Praise the LORD.
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.

2 Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.

3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.

4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.

5 Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,

6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?

7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

8 he seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people.

9 He settles the barren woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD.

From my understanding of this passage, my efforts do not get me to God on the mountain top, but rather the God who is enthroned on high humbles himself to come down to us.  Does this mean I can forsake all responsibility?  No it does not.  The Bible is clear that we have responsibilities.  But believing that it all relies on our efforts to get to the mountain top so the Lord who is “enthroned on high” will not hear us or be with us is not true.  Praise God the He has humbled himself to reach down to us to save us, to hear and guide us. Praise God for Jesus Christ who is the ultimate example of God reaching into the lowest of valleys to come meet with his people.  Praise God that he meets us in the valleys and on the mountain tops.  Praise God that it is not all up to me to reach Him. 

Take hope today that the God we serve can meet you where you are at.  Think about how pervasive the thought process is that pushes us to the idea that we must try harder to be heard by God.  I will take time today to analyze my thought process and find the times I am trying harder.  I will then, by God's grace, turn to Him and praise him for walking with is in the valley of the shadow of death.

Steve