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Growing up surrounded by food, clothing, and comfort, it is easy to forget how much we can live without. We need a new outfit because it is on sale. We need to watch our favorite game or show. We need that hour of decompression after work. We need personal time. Our senses of need and want have mingled into a hopeless, twisted mess.
Somehow we have forgotten to go outside. Our needs have scurried indoors, where climate control and computer screens devour our days. We hesitate to face the chill of fresh wind, to climb a brambly hill, or to lie down on hard-packed dirt to visit with the stars. We're not sure if dirty hands are worth climbing a tree, and we don't have time between leaving the house and climbing into the car to see the clouds. Hand-painted, raw beauty surrounds us, and we rush to the comfort of our flat beige walls and our faux wood desks.
There is something missing.
Job 12:7-9 - But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
How can we look to the birds of the air or observe the lilies of the field when the closest we come to them is a passing glance at the window or cut flowers from the nearest supermarket?
Genesis 9:12-13 - And God said, This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
How can we remember the covenant of the Lord if the clouds cannot garner our interest?
Three summers ago, I went on a backpacking trip with my extended family in British Columbia that changed my perspective on need and nature. We wanted to challenge ourselves, to live off of what we could carry on our backs, and to push beyond our physical limits. We wanted to bond as a family. And, in that week, we certainly received what we had asked for.
Nehemiah 9:6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
We crossed a glacier, roped to each other. We scaled a snow-covered mountain, unsure if the snow would slip off the face of the mountain, taking us along with it. We sank in mud and trudged through thick, stubborn branches.
Wading through streams, we walked with wet boots for days. We didn't shower. We touched ice cold glacier pools, staring at their mesmerizing pale blue colors.
Isaiah 40:12 - Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
There were many moments on that trip when no one wanted to take another step; there were dangerous moments, slips and tumbles, and even minor injuries. Tears came, and mosquitos too, but our hearts were expanding.
It took us encouraging one another, singing together, and sharing our stories to make it to the top.
We slept with our wet socks to help them dry. We ate out of cups and told stories with glowing cheeks on our unwashed faces. When we finally reached the top, surrounded by empty, snow-covered mountains and a glowing, sinking sun, we were enveloped by the matchless feeling that God is not a question. He was there in the atmosphere. Doubt washed away, and a clear sense of purpose, fulfillment, and joy overtook us.
We wrote letters to ourselves up there. When we made it back down the mountain and jumped into the inlet to clean off, we reminded ourselves of what we learned on the mountain.
The air isn’t so clear in day-to-day life, and we cannot always climb mountains. We cannot live outside and abandon responsibility. But those mountaintop experiences are what keep us yearning to live and to change. Our families grew together in that trip, and when those letters were mailed to us half a year later, we had the privilege of hearing our own voices, unencumbered by the cares of the world, reminding us of what is truly important and what is transcendent, good, and beautiful.
Amos 4:13 - For, lo, he forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares unto man what is his thought, that makes the morning darkness, and treads upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
I think back to that experience when I need encouragement or when listening to another lecture or attending another meeting seems empty and purposeless. There is a greater vision and a greater purpose. Our spirits are alive inside us, waiting to expand into people who better reflect Him through His loving guidance. As you are working through the brambles between those mountaintop experiences, remember Who loves you and that His wild, untamed heart beats for you. He would have made all of creation just for you. He would have died for you if you were the only one.
Jeremiah 51:16 - When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he makes lightnings with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.
Please share quotes, verses, or encouragement that has helped you maintain perspective in day-to-day life below. How have you lived with responsibilities and the pressures of daily life without losing the perspective of the mountaintops?
Isaiah 40:31 - But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
