Growing Mountains

Strange concept isn't it...this mountain growing? Kind of like growing corn, or onions, or peas in your back yard. Anyone grow mountains lately? Place the bulb in the ground, water and fertilize, and voila!



Now I know, generally speaking, mountains don't really grow. Unless you're a seismic geologist, you probably couldn't tell that mountains actually are pushed up by the tectonic plates below the mountain. In fact, Mount Rainier here in Washington has grown approximately 12 inches since 1947. Just like in the world of seismic geology, in the world of church planting, mountains seem to grow too.



When Molly and first started this journey, we thought we had a fairly realistic idea of the mountains we thought would face and then climb. We were willing to pay the price to travel lightly and move up the mountains. But, as we have begun to climb, we've noticed the top of the mountain seems like its growing! The challenges seem greater and more treacherous than we thought!



So, in one of my pity-filled moments, one of my planting mentors (let's call him "Dave") issued the question, "So, what are you gonna do? Quit, or keep climbing?" It was a pretty simple question, but just the perfect one at the perfect time. I'm not ready to quit (I'm more of a fighter than a lover). In fact, it's all the more reason to give Jesus all the credit for making the seemingly impossible, well, possible.



Mountains do grow. Difficult situations sometimes get more difficult. The unthinkables happen. We lose the job. Someone in our family chooses to become more distant and disconnected to us. Stuff happens. But God...



God specializes in the tough stuff. The last minute stuff. To be sure, he's in the small, mundane stuff. But He loves to show himself capable and worthy of our admiration and trust. But something happens to us as we "sweat" a bit. We feel small. We feel desperate. We wonder if God is listening. Or, if He's gone mad by allowing certain circumstances or events in our lives. not sure we can handle them. Effectively, He's brilliant. He knows we need him, but we need to know how much we need him.



Sometimes WE grow the mountains by focusing on just how challenging the climb is. We focus on the impossibles. On the "can't be done" thoughts. On the rational. Been there and do that. But, I'm learning.



Mountains grow. But God is bigger. More majestic. More stunning. More awe-filled. More faithful. More worthy of our reverence. And if we're climbing a mountain, we climb one step at a time with our eyes focused not on the size of the mountain, but on the next step. I'm learning as I go.