Let’s face it, there isn’t a single one of us that does not have a problem or an issue that we must tackle. It may be a problematic child, delay in one expected life event or the other, a broke down car, an unsatisfying job, etc. We can call those problems mountains. Mountains, literally and figuratively, are very big and often between you and somewhere you want to be. The only way to get on the other side is to climb over it - defeat it. We cannot go around it, because that is just avoiding it. What you avoid today and do not deal with, will always be there for you to tackle tomorrow. As children of God, we are not exempt from facing mountains in our lives. With the strength of God, how should we face mountains?
How Should We Face Mountains?
- Keep Calm: When we encounter problems or face situations, our initial reaction is panic. “How should I do this? What do I do? Who can I call?”, are the first things we say. We often forget that we have a power behind us that is ageless and undefeated - Jehovah Sabaoth, the lord of hosts. When you encounter a mountain, instead of going into panic mode, stop and keep calm.
- Work on the Exam: Sometimes, problems or issues we encounter is just God’s way of giving us an exam. In school, when you get an exam paper, you are aware that going into a panic does not allow you to think clearly. Settle down and look it over. Despite the fact that he set the exam, we are truly blessed to have a God who will give us the answers.
- Turn Away: Turn around and do not look at the problem or mountain head on. Why do we face a mountain without looking at it? Because looking and dwelling on the size and scope of it will make us depressed and lose focus, not only on the other areas of our lives, but on whatever solutions and tools that might help us defeat the mountain.
- Take it Up: One of my favorite hymns is “What a friend we have in Jesus”. My favorite line is “Oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to the Lord in prayer.” Since we have a God who will help us in times of need, take that problem and deposit it at his feet. Sometimes, the answers to our problems is right in front of us, but we can see it. Taking it to God and not dwelling on it, will give you much needed space to receive and see the solution.
- Erase Impossible: As children of God, ‘Impossible’ should not be found anywhere in our language. There is nothing that is impossible for God to do. It is not just saying it or knowing the stories of Abraham and other people God helped. It is believing it and knowing that your situation is no different. If God can cause a woman in her nineties to give birth, a donkey to speak, a sea (not stream) to divide to the ground in two with dry land underneath, walk on water, raise the dead, and defeat armies just by the sound of the wind, what can he not do?
One of my favorite bible devotional writers says “There is no problem too great for God’s intervention, and no person too small for God’s attention”. Always remember that!
