Immovable Mountains

[Originally published in the Monroe News on July 24, 2020]

If you’ve ever been out to the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado you’ll likely have strong memories of the shifting sand dunes which make up the park’s namesake.  But will you also remember the crowning peaks that sit at the north end of the park?  The tallest of them is a beautiful giant of a peak with amazing red conglomerate sandstone named Crestone Peak.  It is made of such a sturdy rock one could wonder if such a mountain would stand forever.

In 2008 I was on a climbing adventure with my father and brother and we were seeking to climb Crestone Peak.  Its summit stands at 14,294 feet above sea level.  Its no easy climb.  To gain the summit of this peak you have to climb up a steep, narrow red gully of rock which is over a 1000 feet tall.  If you have fears of heights this definitely wouldn’t be a place for you.  Compounding the challenge for us in 2008, about halfway up the gully a snowfield still remained from heavy winter snows.  While climbing on steep snow is very do-able if you have the right equipment and skill, it is also an unforgiving activity.  A fall on such snow could easily send you flying down the mountain into a bed of rock.

We made the difficult decision that day to turn around and come back another day.  It was in those moments that we recited the short creed that many mountaineers come to know: “the mountain will always be there.”  Its a way of saying, if today’s not your day, save your life for tomorrow, because the mountain will still be there.

What got me thinking about these adventures in the mountains was a beautiful verse from the book of Psalms. Its Psalm 125:1 “Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.”  As with the mountaineers creed “the mountain will always be there”, the Psalm points to the immovable character of the mountains.  The Psalm connects this to us and gives us this encouraging message of hope.  “Those who trust in the LORD” will be those who are immovable like the mountains.

"Those who trust in the LORD" are those who live by faith.  Those who hear the Word of God and believe it and trust in it.  These are those who are filled with the love of God and this is seen by all through the life they live.  A life of service, a life of joy, a life bringing glory to God.  And the Psalmist says this person will be like Mount Zion, immovable, abiding forever.

What if your life lived, as one who "trusts in the LORD", would be as immovable as the mountains?  What if you were that kind of fixture, that kind of foundation in your families? In your community? In our world?  If your trust in the LORD was so strong, that people would always see the glory of God in your ways and in your walk.  People would always know the love of Jesus Christ in the way we treated them.  People could rely on us and know that this person is one who can be counted on when I need them most.  This comes by faith, by trusting in the LORD.

And don't think you're too small or insignificant that you can't change big things in this world.  When God was looking for a new king to replace Saul he found David. He was the youngest of eight brothers.  He was the one who slept out in the fields tending sheep and yet it was he whom God chose to change the world. David would become a mighty king by the grace of God.  David would be the one who would defeat the giant Goliath.  David would be the ancestor of the Savior of all, Jesus. David started off as a nobody, yet now all generations of mankind know his name. God did amazing things through David, who trusted in the Lord, why not you too?

To God be the glory.

Mark Witte is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church.
You can contact him at pastorwitte@gmail.com