The Mountain of God

A little dose of encouragement for today!

Here are my thoughts as I hiked back from MacCauley Hot Springs, New Mexico - January 2021

Have you ever noticed how quiet the mountains are at sunset?

I’m not sure how, but almost every time I go into the mountains I seem to be one of the last ones there and the silence at the end of the day always takes me by surprise. Today is no exception.

The paths that were once packed with people now only have a few stragglers left, hustling to get back to their cars before sunset. The last of them pass me and then my husband and dog who are farther up the trail. Soon enough, it’s so quiet that I can hear myself breathe.

In, out. In, out.

I look to the west and notice how it’s getting colder as the last sunbeams slide behind nature’s massive wall; the red light on the mountainside retreating towards the peaks until it leaves the mountains covered in a muted shade of blue.

The dim light from the setting sun still allows me to see the beauty of the expansive untouched nature around me. The air is so fresh it almost hurts to inhale. We must get going, I know we are woefully unprepared to be in the wilderness by ourselves, especially in winter time. But, before I turn to catch up, I pause.

In, out. In, out.

When I leave, this - all of this - remains.

When we get back into the car and the road leads us back into the chaos of life, these mountains stay put. When I get home and jump into chores, they will still be right here. When I have back to back work calls all day followed by busy plans that night, they will be right here sitting in silence.

Regardless of whether these mountains do or do not enter my consciousness again, they will be right here. Forever. These mountains that all of us travelled so far to see stay right where they are; exactly as they are. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around how much is existing simultaneously in the world every waking second, and yet I am one the only one in the whole wide world seeing this exact view.

A familiar feeling of sadness hits me as I know it’s time to say goodbye. It’s a feeling I get every time I start to leave sights like this. Am I sad because I know my feeble brain and terrible iphone camera won’t be able to capture this moment? Probably. But I wonder if most of the sadness stems from the small part of me that takes ownership of the fact that I could spend more time in such beauty, and, for whatever reason, I have crafted a life that doesn’t allow that to happen despite these available mountains always being right here.

I take one more deep breath of crisp air as I try to force my brain to do the impossible task of remembering everything exactly as it is. It’s time to head back.

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Now before you go feeling too bad for me, the sad moment did pass and I was quickly consumed with the burning of my lungs and all the huffing and puffing it took to climb back up the steep trail with limited light. On a side note, hikes that descend from the starting point should be illegal in my humble, and out of shape, opinion! ;)

Now back to the story. As you’ve read the Bible, have you noticed how often God is referred to as being a refuge, a safe place, a fortress, and, yes, a mountain? If not, open Psalms for about five seconds and you will find some examples.

As I have learned more about the spiritual nature of our Christian faith, I have learned that this isn’t just some nice platitude the various authors attributed to God to make Him feel good about Himself or just a metaphor to remind us of how big He is. Quite the contrary!

What these authors understood is that when they spent time praying to God, their spirits would literally “go” from the troubled reality in front of them into the presence of God.

In other words, the presence of God is a real place that we have access to and “can go to” today. God is a strong, powerful mountain. He is a soft refreshing breeze. He is the trail that leads us away from the chaos of life. Like those mountains in New Mexico, God never changes and is always available - much more permanent than those mountains because He created them and will still be God after this world fades away!

God is immutable, which is a fancy word meaning He is the same today as He was 10,000 years ago and He will be the same God 10,000 years from now. The same God, I might add, that always wants us to come and spend more time with Him.

The peace that surpasses all understanding, the loving Father with His arms stretched wide, the shelter in the storm is available to us literally 24/7. Whether we think about Him or not, He is always there.

But how do we get there? Many of you might be in the same spot where I was a few years ago and saying, “How come when I pray or worship it doesn’t feel like that? How do I actually experience God’s presence instead of just learning about it?”

If that’s you, know you are not crazy or alone. While I certainly can’t cover everything in one blog post, I will leave you with this truth to get the ball rolling: When you became a Christian and agreed to follow Jesus (more on what that actually means in another post), you became a temple of the Holy Spirit.

That means if you are a follower of Jesus, the presence of GOD (the creator of the universe, the one who split the Red Sea, and the one who defeated death!) lives inside of you right now. You don’t have to make a pilgrimage to some holy site or do some ritualistic song and dance with your fingers crossed in hopes that God will show up. He’s already here!

But… your pinky toe is also already here. Your left ankle bone is already here. Barring any foot injury, I would assume you’re a normal person and you, like me, have not noticed those parts of your body at all today.

So I will end this article with where we need to begin: by carving out more time focused on our unchanging, beautiful, restorative Father who is with us always. Like any part of the body, if we actually focus on His presence, we will become more aware of it. What a gift that is!

I promise I will talk more about this soon, but for now, let’s make one of our 2025 resolutions to spend less time in the world and more time “in the beautiful mountains of God!”

Please click on the following links to round out this blog post:

Bible Chapter: Psalm 91

Worship Song: Holy Spirit by Bryan and Katie Torwalt

Sermon (please watch!):

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My direct email is miki@mikispeer.com. If you are grieving or know someone who is, please visit my website: www.mikispeer.com.