Facing the mountains of life

I feel to write on ‘facing the mountains of life’. Mountains come in many forms and can look daunting and insurmountable. Your mountain might be natural disaster, ill health, economic uncertainty, family breakdown and even betrayal or perceived injustice from someone close. In recent times, we’ve seen natural disasters strip people of everything that they have poured their lives into! They are facing great uncertainty on many fronts. I hope the following keys I’ve learnt to apply through the challenging places of life will bless you!

Face your particular mountain with courage! Admit it has affected you deeply. It’s ok to weep in bitter desperation, pouring out your concerns before God’s throne of grace, (in simple terms, telling Him all about it). Hebrews 4:16 (amp) says, ‘Let us fearlessly, confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace to help in good time for every need, (appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it’).

Be willing to invite God Almighty, the Sovereign, all seeing, all knowing Creator of the Universe to illuminate His perspective of the situation to you. Maybe you would pray a simple prayer like this, ‘Lord, I’ve reached the limit of my own abilities, I don’t know what to do. Please take over and untangle the complex threads of this mess and transform it into something beautiful that will be a testimony of Your realness and Your greatness! Let not one day of angst be wasted! Seek for the lessons (and the chastenings), ‘for whom the Lord loves he chastens’. Welcome the correction of God and look the positive opportunities that present in the midst of the circumstances! I have personally found that when going through a tough patch in life, if I seek out someone worse off than myself and reach out with kindness, my day takes on a whole new perspective!

When King Hezekiah in (2 Kings 20) was facing death, turned his face to the wall and prayed, ‘Lord, I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on You’. In turning his face to the wall, he shut out any and every distraction and clamoring thought and focused solely upon God. Once we’ve unloaded to God, it’s time to lift our eyes above the circumstances to focus entirely on Him and ONLY upon Him with a child like trust.

Wait with faith filled expectancy for the solutions to appear! Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the ASSURANCE (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see and the CONVICTION OF THEIR REALITY (FAITH PERCEIVING AS REAL FACT, WHAT IS NOT REVEALED TO THE SENSES). Faith gets a promise from God’s Word that lines up with His principles and begins to see it as already come to pass! It meditates upon the ANSWER! It refuses to wallow in the hopeless nature of the appearance of a matter. It has an earnest, white hot expectation that ‘He Who has promised, is faithful’. Faith is not moved by circumstances, it trusts completely. Faith sees that family restored and harmoniously loving one another, preferring and respecting and honoring one another with a new found appreciation, blessing and not cursing with the words. Faith sees that ‘though all of my entire possessions have been destroyed, I’m expectantly waiting for the doors to open to see these matters speedily resolved’. I thank You Lord for your favor upon my family, Your Word says that, ‘no good thing will You withhold from those who walk uprightly before you’.

Whatever challenge you may be confronted with today, I commit to stand in faith with you to see the Lord ‘perfect that which concerns you’. May God’s richest blesses abound to you and may you be truly encouraged and filled with hope and peace.