Tag Archives: Strength from God

When Mountains Stand Strong, 2022

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Mountains of difficulty stand in front of us.  They loom over us.  They look insurmountable.  But, I want to encourage us to hold fast, to continue pressing on, to endure.  Let us take hold of the One who will never let us go, and with Him beside us, we can traverse any mountain.

The following is a repost of an article I wrote several years ago.  I hope it will encourage you.

I am on the mountain of heartbreak, and I don’t want to climb it anymore. Every muscle in my aching body screams for me to stop, to give up, to turn around and get off this mountain—to run and hide rather than face what looms before me, to maybe wander off into a green pasture, to lie down beside a calm stream, to spend hours listening to the symphony of birds in the trees and crickets in the grass—anything but put one foot in front of the other on these craggy ledges and dangling precipices. I am tired from this journey that presents nothing to me but pain and arduous struggle.

The problems that loom in front of me are mountains of immense proportion. Their enormity is overwhelming. Just one look at them can cause my heart to sink into the lowest valley. Their height seems to reach to the heavens, and the length of the mountain chain seems to go on for miles with no end in sight. Whatever can my human heart do when this is what stands in front of me, staring me in the face with its cold, hard reality? These mountains are formidable opponents. Some people don’t survive the battle against these giants. Sometimes, I wonder if I will.

Why can’t I have it the easy way? Why can’t I have the things that look so much more desirable, and that appear as though they will bring me so much more peace? Why do I have to labor and exert myself for hours on end to head to a destination that I can’t even see, that seems so far beyond my reach? Why do I have to do it? Because this is what He has called me to. Because this is His perfect plan for my life. He knows something that I do not know. He sees something that I do not see. He knows what I will find when I get to the end. He goes before me, He goes beside me, He holds me up from behind, and when the finish line is finally in sight, He will be there with arms outstretched and waiting to enfold me—to tell me well done, to tell me that I have gained the prize. It is His wisdom that outweighs mine. It is His sovereignty, His omnipotence, His love that will spur me on. I have to choose. I get to choose. Will I be spurred on? Or will I turn and walk back down the mountain to a destination where He is not? To a place where He is not walking beside me, or upholding me, or spurring me on to finish. Which will I choose? Which direction will I go? I choose Him. In all things, I choose Him. No matter what lies ahead, what difficulties I must face, what trials I must surmount, I choose Him. I would rather have Him than anything. This is what I do when mountains stand strong: I stand stronger because of His strength in me.

So although I am enveloped in a thick, confusing fog, with winds howling all around me; although the storm clouds rage and break upon my face, their roaring thunder striking fear into my heart; although there are sudden avalanches that make the situation even more unstable than I thought it already was, and torrents wash away what I thought I knew, I can look up. Yes, at these times, I can look up. My fear and unbelief will then be washed away by grace, because when I lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help, these heavy things have to flee and give place to hope, peace, and eternal love.

In my newly-washed perspective, I see God—the source of hope, peace, and eternal love. I see His goodness. His power. His strength and majesty. My heart can hope, and it can rejoice. Yes, although my feet are in the valley, my soul can soar above the mountaintops. I can stand strong because my Maker causes me to stand strong. Nothing compares to the awesomeness that He is. Nothing can lift my head like He can. Nothing can lift my soul like He can. Nothing can move my heart like He can. And nothing can move mountains like He can. He can give me the mustard seed of faith that can say to these formidable mountains, “Be moved into the sea!” When my Mountain, my Rock, battles against these mountains, they are no match, because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. There is power in the name of this great God. There is none else like Him. When mountains stand strong, He stands stronger.

You are my rock…
Into Your hand I commit my spirit…
You have known my soul in adversities.1

NOTES

1 Scripture portions taken from Psalm 31:3, 5, and 7 of the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, ©1982 by Thomas Nelson.

© Text and photo Francee Strain, February 27, 2022. Original post © Francee Strain, March 2, 2018.

When Mountains Stand Strong—2021 Edition

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Dear Readers,

Some of you have seen the following post before, while to others of you, it is new.  This article just kept coming back to my mind and heart this week, and I felt it timely to post it again.  Although life looks completely different for me than when I originally wrote the article in 2018, the truths of it have not changed.  And now, as I look around at family, friends, and strangers, I keep seeing and hearing a common theme: people are struggling, people are hurting, people are despairing.  More mountains of hardship have arrived.  Pre-existing ones seem to have grown taller.  But I want to encourage you to hold on to hope.  Don’t look at the size of the mountains; look at the One who can move them.

~~~

Original Post:

I am on the mountain of heartbreak, and I don’t want to climb it anymore. Every muscle in my aching body screams for me to stop, to give up, to turn around and get off this mountain—to run and hide rather than face what looms before me, to maybe wander off into a green pasture, to lie down beside a calm stream, to spend hours listening to the symphony of birds in the trees and crickets in the grass—anything but put one foot in front of the other on these craggy ledges and dangling precipices. I am tired from this journey that presents nothing to me but pain and arduous struggle.

The problems that loom in front of me are mountains of immense proportion. Their enormity is overwhelming. Just one look at them can cause my heart to sink into the lowest valley. Their height seems to reach to the heavens, and the length of the mountain chain seems to go on for miles with no end in sight. Whatever can my human heart do when this is what stands in front of me, staring me in the face with its cold, hard reality? These mountains are formidable opponents. Some people don’t survive the battle against these giants. Sometimes, I wonder if I will.

Why can’t I have it the easy way? Why can’t I have the things that look so much more desirable, and that appear as though they will bring me so much more peace? Why do I have to labor and exert myself for hours on end to head to a destination that I can’t even see, that seems so far beyond my reach? Why do I have to do it? Because this is what He has called me to. Because this is His perfect plan for my life. He knows something that I do not know. He sees something that I do not see. He knows what I will find when I get to the end. He goes before me, He goes beside me, He holds me up from behind, and when the finish line is finally in sight, He will be there with arms outstretched and waiting to enfold me—to tell me well done, to tell me that I have gained the prize. It is His wisdom that outweighs mine. It is His sovereignty, His omnipotence, His love that will spur me on. I have to choose. I get to choose. Will I be spurred on? Or will I turn and walk back down the mountain to a destination where He is not? To a place where He is not walking beside me, or upholding me, or spurring me on to finish. Which will I choose? Which direction will I go? I choose Him. In all things, I choose Him. No matter what lies ahead, what difficulties I must face, what trials I must surmount, I choose Him. I would rather have Him than anything. This is what I do when mountains stand strong: I stand stronger because of His strength in me.

So although I am enveloped in a thick, confusing fog, with winds howling all around me; although the storm clouds rage and break upon my face, their roaring thunder striking fear into my heart; although there are sudden avalanches that make the situation even more unstable than I thought it already was, and torrents wash away what I thought I knew, I can look up. Yes, at these times, I can look up. My fear and unbelief will then be washed away by grace, because when I lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help, these heavy things have to flee and give place to hope, peace, and eternal love.

In my newly-washed perspective, I see God—the source of hope, peace, and eternal love. I see His goodness. His power. His strength and majesty. My heart can hope, and it can rejoice. Yes, although my feet are in the valley, my soul can soar above the mountaintops. I can stand strong because my Maker causes me to stand strong. Nothing compares to the awesomeness that He is. Nothing can lift my head like He can. Nothing can lift my soul like He can. Nothing can move my heart like He can. And nothing can move mountains like He can. He can give me the mustard seed of faith that can say to these formidable mountains, “Be moved into the sea!” When my Mountain, my Rock, battles against these mountains, they are no match, because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. There is power in the name of this great God. There is none else like Him. When mountains stand strong, He stands stronger.

“You are my rock…
Into Your hand I commit my spirit…
You have known my soul in adversities.”
(from Psalm 31:3, 5, 7 NKJV)

©Photo and text by Francee Strain, January 16, 2021.  Original post from March 2, 2018.

When Winter Comes Early

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Well, it seems winter came early for our region.  Approximately eight inches of snow arrived on October 23rd.  We typically expect a bit of snow in November, with our majority coming in December and January, so, snow in October found us surprised, shocked, caught off guard, and not mentally ready.  Our flowers were still blooming.  Our lawns were still green.  Leaves were just beginning to turn to their autumn colors.  And then came the snow.  Relentless.  Almost all day and into the night it fell.  Piling on, inch after inch.  Branches broke.  Possessions were buried.  Roads were obscured and treacherous for drivers.  And then came the cold the following day.  Winds whipped the snow into drifts across the ground and rooftops.  Gusts blasted trees and drifts, sending swirls of snow into the air.  And the temperature dropped, and dropped, and dropped, all the way down into the teens.  Surprised comments, sighs, and groans escaped the lips of many.  A few may have even shed some tears.

Sometimes, life is like an early heavy snowfall.  Blizzards of problems fall down on us unexpectedly and relentlessly.  One day, our lives are sunny, and the next, we need to break out the winter gear.  Our health gets buried in doctor’s appointments and medical bills, we face the sharp winds of grief when we lose a loved one, we watch irreparable damage come when our retirement savings disappear as our company folds and puts our pink slip in the mail.  Now what will we do?  How can we go on when we can’t even see which way is up, or forward, or through?

When dreams die, and our plans don’t go as planned, our life landscapes look bleak, barren, and hopeless.  Depression colors our skies gray.  Our hearts become cold and joyless.  Our thoughts become dark and desolate.  We feel forlorn, forgotten, and forsaken.

This happens to all of us at one time or another, in different forms and fashions.  The account of Job as told in the Bible shows us that sometimes every aspect of who we are gets hit, all at the same time, before we are even finished processing the reality of the first thing that happened.  Job lost his ten children, his livelihood, his wealth, his health, the support of his wife and friends, his reputation, and any comfort he had.  He was alone.  Alone with his thoughts, with his overwhelming grief, with a crowd of unsupportive people.  But then, things changed.  He had a talk with God.

God’s perspective got Job through the blinding, swirling cloud of questions and doubts.  Truth pervaded his darkness.  The immensity and majesty of God’s power broke through and changed everything.

Job got up out of the dirt, realizing that God had a plan, and God could do anything.

And then, Job continued to live.  A new depth of relationship with God remade him from the inside out.  Hope and joy came again.  New blessings arrived.  New purpose set him on a new path. 

So, if you have gone into the wintry ditch, look up.  There are still sunrises and sunsets.  Look at the beauty that is still there.  Look at the silvery-blue skies crafted by the hand of the Almighty God.  Look at the glimmer in the sparkles of snow. 

While things sleep, waiting for the next phase of God’s plan, progress is underway.  Moisture is being put into the earth, and plants are resting in preparation for the work of spring.  They are awaiting their cue from their Maker, and then the wonder of spring will unfold.  We, too, can anticipate the bloom that is coming and prepare for it now.

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”*  Because He lives, we can live also.  Faith, hope, love, and resurrection power will cause us to bloom when the timing is just right. 

So, have a conversation with God, and hold on for spring.  He is doing something in you even now, and you are going to be a new and beautiful creation.

~~~~~

Isaiah 55:6–13 (NKJV)

6 Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

12 “For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

~~~~~

*Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)

©Text and photos Francee Strain, October 24, 2020