“I lift my eyes
up to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the
Lord, the maker of heaven and earth” – Psalm 121:1
It’s winter here in
Kenya, which means that in the central province where I live it’s cold and
cloudy and misty most every day. Mt. Kenya, which I can usually see from my
front porch, has been covered with clouds for the last 2 months. Lately I’ve
found myself forgetting it’s even there anymore. Last week though, while I was
sitting on my porch cuddling a hot water bottle and nursing a cup of hot tea to
try to stay warm and feeling a little down, just for a moment, the clouds
began to slowly part. As I watched them graciously step aside, there, bathed in
pink and gold evening light and standing just as strong and majestic as ever,
was The Mountain. I quickly called to Ruth to come out and look, and the two of
us stood together gazing at that glorious sight, receiving the beautiful gift the Lord was beaming to us and soaking in His love and goodness.Then, all too soon, signaling the end of the most spectacular drama we’d
witnessed in months, the cloud curtain fell and all was misty and gray again.
It’s hard to
describe what that brief glimpse of the mountain has done for my soul. After so
many weeks of dreary, cold, plodding days, the kind where I act out of
obedience rather than passion, out of faithfulness rather than fire, where at
the end of the day I sometimes forget to take my glasses off before wearily
falling into bed and then I wake up a few hours later with their shape
imprinted on the side of my face, that brief mountain sighting reminded me that
beyond the clouds, through the plodding and misty hardships of this life, there
He always is, gloriously loving me and standing strong for me even when I’m
tired and don’t see it.
And the thing is, it was just a glimpse. The clouds did close in and the mountain is once again hidden. But my plodding feels less heavy now. I can step lighter because He has given me just the small bit of encouragement I needed. Even when I can't see past the mist, He is there. He sees my plodding and what it sometimes is costing me even when others don't, and He is faithful and steadfast and true through it all.
