I’m not a mountain climber, and I don’t play one on t.v., but as I looked around me, mountains surrounded me.

Have you ever been in the valley, looking up at the enormity of the mountain, yet feeling ill-equipped for the trek?

Maybe your current mountains are financial.
Or the health of you or a loved one.
Maybe your emotional health or that of someone you care about has been shaken.
Your mountain may look like a difficult relationship.
Or perhaps the consequences of your own poor decisions.

When you can’t see the path or the steps to take

Unlike a mountain climber who plans his journey, trains for months in advance, and gathers the necessary resources, many of our mountains seem to spring up without warning.

I don’t mind facing difficult tasks if I can see the path and the steps to take. But that doesn’t take much trust, does it?

My mountains emerged and I battled against a bit of resentment, for I had not asked to go on that trek, nor did I have a map to guide my way.

What I had was a long list of questions:

How long would this trek last?
Where would I find the resources to meet the overwhelming need?
Did anyone else understand?
Would I be required to go on this trek alone?
What if I started down the path I thought I was to take but it ended up being the wrong path?
When would the final hurdle catapult itself in my path?

When your mountain causes you to tremble

My biggest mountain often obscured the sun and cast dark shadows over my path, at times causing me to tremble in fear underneath its enormity.

Discontentedness had grown in my heart in an area of my life, while at the same time, God was instilling a new dream. All I could see was the mountain the stood between where I was and where I knew I was headed.

Being a fairly systematic, analytical, and driven individual, I was ready to chart my path. Tell me the rules and parameters, give me my assignment and I would follow them. As I prayed for direction, I expected God to give me my marching orders. Instead, what I heard was a gentle but firm conviction, “And where is your faith in that? If I were to show you now all the steps you will take to get from here to there, would that require any trust?”

God was right…He always is. I didn’t trust myself. The truth was, I was so afraid of making a misstep that would cause me to fall off the path that God had for me, that neither did I trust Him either to keep me on the path, or walk me back to the path if I veered off course.

How do you trust God when it looks impossible?

Fully trusting God means that we will always have unanswered questions in our life. It’s often only after we declare our trust in Him that He shows us the next step. Just as in the case of Moses leading the Israelites when they encountered the Red Sea. God required that Moses step into the sea before God parted the sea for them to pass through.

God usually doesn’t give us the entire map for the trek up or around our mountain. But He always provides all the resources we need when we need them. He is our perfect provision.

No matter what our mountain is that looms tall before us, our trust in God will effectively be the first step toward throwing that mountain into the sea, dissolving its power.

When I trust God with my whole heart, it doesn’t matter how tall or how wide is the mountain before me. I remain in peace, and it is well with my soul.

What step is God asking you to take toward facing your mountain while trusting in Him?

“It Is Well” by Kristene Di Marco & Bethel.

Because of Him, Hope Prevails!

 

 

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Depression doesn’t have to become a permanent part of life.

There is hope.

Hope Prevails: Insights From a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression and the companion Hope Prevails Bible Study help the reader understand how depression comes to be, recover their joy, reclaim their peace, and re-establish their true identity, while knowing their worth, remembering their secure destiny, and being confident that nothing separates them from God’s love.

Hope Prevails and the Hope Prevails Bible Study are must-reads for anyone suffering from depression or knows someone suffering from depression.

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Author, Downside Up