The single most beautiful sight I have ever seen in the natural world was a view of the Himalayas as I flew out of Kathmandu a little over ten years ago.
I have always loved mountains and the capital city of Nepal lies in a valley bordered on the north by the greatest mountain range on the planet. The Himalayas include over a hundred peaks exceeding 23,600 feet in height.
I came to Kathmandu to help train Nepali pastors in church planting. It was thrilling and humbling to have a small part in equipping these godly leaders. The mountain vista came at the very end, an unexpected treasure, as we flew out of the city en route to India.
We left the city in the middle of the morning, and because our flight was almost empty, I had perfect views from either side of the aircraft. I soon found myself awestruck as the plane rose above the city.
Kathmandu lies in a valley of about 4600 feet in elevation. As the aircraft slowly climbed, I could see terraced farmland beyond the city, and then rolling hills, rising higher and higher, crisscrossed with narrow footpaths. Those high green steppes alone, so serene and inviting, would have stayed in my memory. But there was more.
The hills, high enough to be called mountains in many parts of the world, kept pointing further upward. And suddenly, appearing in the thinning air with almost symphonic crescendo, the Himalayas shouldered themselves above the clouds. Towering twice as high as my beloved Rockies, they were jagged and blue, ribbed with permanent snow, majestic and beautiful and terrible. I could not tear my eyes away.
As I've been trying to write about Him, the Mountain Maker, I kept hearing in my head part of the Hillsong chorus: Savior, He can move the mountains, My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save.
He is indomitable, timeless, unyielding, and holy. And He is our only shelter and protection. Run to Him.
I have always loved mountains and the capital city of Nepal lies in a valley bordered on the north by the greatest mountain range on the planet. The Himalayas include over a hundred peaks exceeding 23,600 feet in height.
I came to Kathmandu to help train Nepali pastors in church planting. It was thrilling and humbling to have a small part in equipping these godly leaders. The mountain vista came at the very end, an unexpected treasure, as we flew out of the city en route to India.
We left the city in the middle of the morning, and because our flight was almost empty, I had perfect views from either side of the aircraft. I soon found myself awestruck as the plane rose above the city.
Kathmandu lies in a valley of about 4600 feet in elevation. As the aircraft slowly climbed, I could see terraced farmland beyond the city, and then rolling hills, rising higher and higher, crisscrossed with narrow footpaths. Those high green steppes alone, so serene and inviting, would have stayed in my memory. But there was more.
The hills, high enough to be called mountains in many parts of the world, kept pointing further upward. And suddenly, appearing in the thinning air with almost symphonic crescendo, the Himalayas shouldered themselves above the clouds. Towering twice as high as my beloved Rockies, they were jagged and blue, ribbed with permanent snow, majestic and beautiful and terrible. I could not tear my eyes away.
Many
people, plenty who are not Christians, are stirred by the mountains.
They seem indomitable, timeless, unyielding, even holy. And at the same time mountains offer shelter and protection. Run to the mountains.
But let's be clear: there is no generic Higher Power at work, no unknown God of the mountains. It's Jesus Christ. He's the Mountain Maker, and it's His glory we feel. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities —all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17
The same One who nursed at Mary's breast, who wept at Lazarus' tomb, sculpted the Himalayas. And one day when they are ground to dust and remade in a new earth, Jesus will do that, too.
But let's be clear: there is no generic Higher Power at work, no unknown God of the mountains. It's Jesus Christ. He's the Mountain Maker, and it's His glory we feel. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities —all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17
The same One who nursed at Mary's breast, who wept at Lazarus' tomb, sculpted the Himalayas. And one day when they are ground to dust and remade in a new earth, Jesus will do that, too.
As I've been trying to write about Him, the Mountain Maker, I kept hearing in my head part of the Hillsong chorus: Savior, He can move the mountains, My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save.
He is indomitable, timeless, unyielding, and holy. And He is our only shelter and protection. Run to Him.
