A view of the mountains

A Grace and Truth column

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People visiting New York are fascinated by the high buildings surrounded by so many people. But I am struck by so many people surrounded by the high mountains. Mountains in New York City? Yes. Many struggle with “mountains” of fear and dismay that overshadow them.



Every minister shares Isaiah’s prophetic cry to “prepare a way for the Lord, to make straight his paths; to raise the valleys and make low every mountain and hill.” And we admire the power of our Lord Jesus’ words to “speak to the mountains with faith in God to cast them aside.” Yet there are honest moments when our longing to serve God well conflicts with our realities. Such moments leave us like the disciples standing at the base of a mountain, struggling with why we couldn’t cast it out. What do we do with the mountains that resist our moving forward, rough places that yield no rest, jagged places that threaten peace?

During a season of prayer about some difficult periods in my life and ministry, God’s comfort came to assure me that the struggles in life are resolved by the daily choice to trust him. God has a marvelous way of using the mountainous places in our lives to develop in us his sanctification and holiness. Until the life of Christ is placed within us, daily Christianity is an exercise in theoretical, sometimes clinical observations of life, devoid of the empathy that empowers compassion to action toward redemptive change and transformation.

God shows his presence in our lives through mountain experiences. King David’s psalm of “walking through the valley of the shadow of death” with the Lord to comfort him is one example. Were it not for the overshadowing mountain of that humbling valley experience, David would not have known the comfort of the Shepherd’s rod and staff, the protection and provision of the Lord and the courage to claim God’s mercy and goodness the way he did.
In the hands of God, the mountains in your life serve as:

• a point of new beginnings and restoration after a traumatic experience, as Mt. Ararat served for Noah and his family;

• a crucial place of worship, willing sacrifice and miraculous provision, as Mt. Moriah served for Abraham and Isaac;

• a place of revelation in God’s calling, as Mt. Sinai served for Moses and the children of Israel;

• a plateau of peace that views continued covenant blessings upon one’s household long into the next generation, as Mt. Nebo and Mt. Pisgah served for Moses;

• a precipice that summons courage to take possession of God’s long-awaited promises, as Mt. Hebron served for Caleb;

• a place of expectation where humble eyes finally see what’s been so passionately believed in one’s heart, as Mt. Carmel served for Elijah;

• a challenge to proclaim fearless faith, calling on God’s grace in ways you’ve not known or previously understood before, like Zerubbabel did in Zechariah’s vision;

• a platform for teaching and personal transformation, a defining moment that elevates the direction of your life and ministry as the Mount of Beatitudes served for Jesus;

• a place of testimony and sharing, of prayer, submission and consecrated trust in the will of God, as the Mount of Olives served for Jesus.

God removes mountains for us by moving us toward them. Pray today and ask for his view of those mountains, and God’s grace will cast aside all fear and dismay. Nothing can separate you from his love and good purpose. Alleluia.

Kenneth Thompson is pastor of Friendship Community Church, Bronx, N.Y.

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Kenneth Thompson is pastor of Friendship Community Church, Bronx, N.Y.