Moving my Mt. McKinley

One of the roads I travel often goes up and down a hill. As I get to the top, if it's a clear day, I can see in the distance the Alaska Range with its beautiful, snow capped tall mountains that extend through the horizon. This morning was one of those clear days. As I was nearing the top of the hill I was wondering if I would be able to see the range. Sure enough, down in the distance, the mountains rose majestically. And then, just to the side, as I started going down the hill I could see it: Mt. McKinley. At more than 20 thousand feet high, it is the highest mountain in North America and it easily rises above all the other mountains of the Alaska Range. It is impressive!

As I contemplated the beautiful scene in front of me, I compared Mt. McKinley to all my problems. At the moment they seem huge and even though God has been giving me peace and strength, I am very well aware of what's going on in my life. But just as I was comparing that huge mountain to my trials, God brought to my mind that Jesus had once said that if I have faith like a mustard seed I can say to a mountain to move and it will move ( Matthew 17:20.) So right there and then I told my big mountain of problems and trials to move out of my way and then I rejoiced in the fact that God had honored my little mustard seed size faith.

Notice how the Bible text doesn't say that the mountain will disappear. It says that it will move from here to there. What I've just learned is that asking God to move the mountain is not asking God to make my trials go away, but asking that my trials won't get on my way. As the big mountain moves, I have a clear path before me with no distractions, no obstacles, no worries. God is in control and taking care of it all for me.

Last night before going to sleep I was telling God that a small part of me really wanted to complain about everything that is going on, but at the same time how could I when He's been so Wonderful in spite of it all? He then led me to read Psalm 29.

"Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. The voice of the Lord is powerful, majestic. His voice breaks the cedars. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning and shakes the desert. 

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood. 

The Lord is enthroned as King forever."

As I read these words I didn't quite understand how this was the comfort I was needing, although I did acknowledge that God is all powerful and above everything. Maybe God was helping me understand that He's bigger than my trials?

But then the last verse brought it all home.

" The Lord gives strength to His people; 

the Lord blesses His people with peace." 

Psalm 29:11

This God who is bigger than anything, who is powerful to shake the deserts and make flashes of lightning with His voice; the God who sits in His throne as King forever, is the same God who gives me strength and blesses me with peace.What a wonderful promise God gave me last night.

And this promise is for you too. How's your life? Are your problems becoming too overwhelming?  Maybe there is sickness in your family, or maybe heartache. Maybe your children are not making the wisest decisions. Are you having financial difficulties? Is your marriage in distress? Or maybe you're having a difficult time with school or work. Are there broken relationships or misunderstandings in your life? How big is your mountain? Is it getting bigger and bigger? However big, God wants to remove it out of your way and give you a smooth path in front of you. He also promises you strength and peace. Hold on to those promises. Trouble free eternal life is just around the corner!

Photo by Bill Kasper

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Matthew 17:20

" The Lord gives strength to His people; 

the Lord blesses His people with peace." 

Psalm 29:11

A follower

Someone once told me that Alaska is the most exotic place in the world. I had to ponder that for a while as my idea of exotic involves mostly white sandy beaches, palm trees, nice blue ocean water, and tropical fruit. I do have to admit though that Alaska is one of the most beautiful and unexpected places I've seen.

One of the interesting things about Alaska is its seasons. Winters are long, cold and dark. Spring and Summers are bright and full of activity. Falls are gorgeous but short.

As I was driving through town yesterday and admiring the gorgeous sunshine, I started to think about the effects of the sun on people. One more winter is slowly but surely coming to an end here in the lands of the north. The dark and short days are behind, days are getting longer and the sun shines so beautifully that sometimes I forget it's still winter. All of a sudden I have more energy and I wake up happier as the sun shines through the windows. I feel myself more active and I've been dreaming about all the flowers and vegetables I'm going to plant in my garden. I don't feel as sluggish and blah as I felt a couple of months ago when the sun was out for about 3 hours at a time. And with each passing day, as the sun shines more and more, I feel myself getting exited about Spring and all the wonderful things that come with it! This morning I even sat outside, winter gear on, just soaking up the sun. Oh how I love sunshine! It truly warms not only my body but also my soul!

What a beautiful object lesson from nature of God's influence in our lives. The Bible says that God is light and that in Him there is no darkness (I John 1:5). Jesus said that He is the light of the world (John 8:12). And He adds that if we follow Him we will never walk in darkness. God turns our darkness into light (II Samuel 22:29.) If experiencing the light of the sun has such an impact on my day to day, imagine how much more impact will the Son of God have in my life! Without Him my life has no purpose. I'm just living my day to day without any hope for the future. Without God in my life I have to endure my struggles on my own or rely on other unreliable human beings. Without God I have to aimless look for some happiness in my existence which is so conditional on circumstances. 

But with God in my life...

With God I can do all things because He gives me strength! With Him I can have a peace that surpasses all understanding. With God I have hope for the future! I'll still have problems, He did not promise a problem free life in this sinful world, but He's overcome the world. All these problems are temporary and I can have the assurance that in Him I'll come out of trials victorious! With God I have joy in my heart, even when things are going crazy around me. How wonderful!

I was reading Matthew 13 this week and verses 14 and 15 got my attention. As Jesus was explaining to His disciples why He spoke in parables, He also said that if people could see and  understand with their hearts what they were seeing and hearing, then they would turn and Christ would heal them. How incredible is the power of God in our lives! If we give Him a chance to work in us, we can't help but be transformed. Just take for example William Miller, a firm atheist, who decided to read the Bible so he could prove the Christians wrong. What a powerful witness for Christ He became as he learned of God's immense love for him. And what about Paul who went from persecuting to loving. What a champion for the truth he became. And how many more stories in millions of people around the world are written in the hearts as a witness of God's amazing and powerful influence in their lives!

If you haven't become a Christ follower yet I encourage you to give Him a chance. Tell Him that you want to know what it is to have Him in your life. Tell Him you want to know what He can do in you and to help you see what He wants you to see. Allow God to shine on you more and more. I promise you'll be in for THE experience of your life! The transformation in you will be incredible. I know that from my own experience. Being a God follower has been the greatest thing ever! Why don't you experience for yourself what it is to follow God? Starting right now...

" I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

John 8:12

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned."

Isaiah 9:2

Bragg Liquid Aminos

Love, sometimes, can manifest itself in the most unexpected ways. A beautiful sunset that fills the sky with glorious colors, the smile of your child, the embrace of your spouse, the affirmation of a parent, the rainbow, beautiful flowers, they can all make you know that you are loved by someone. But this week I experienced something different. This week, love manifested itself to me in the form of... soy sauce alternative! Allow me to explain.


If you've been reading my latest posts you'll know that I've been going, or growing, through some difficult times. And trials are never easy. The only things that come easily to me during trials are complaining and stress! I naturally tend to focus on the negative which can be very distressing.


I was noticing the heavy weight on my shoulders and told God that I needed Him to remove this load I had put on myself. So God placed 2 special friends on my path who patiently and lovingly listened as I shared some of the things I was going through. And later that day I was able to continue sharing my thoughts with my husband. Talking really helped me put things into perspective and the next day I felt like a different person. I apologized to God for all my complaining and for focusing on the negative when, in spite of the trials, He's been showering me with blessings every day. Suddenly, I felt the load lift off my shoulders and I just knew Jesus had placed it on His.


Now back to the soy sauce alternative.


I have been busily learning new recipes and many of them call for soy sauce. I've been trying to cook healthier so I bought a low sodium soy sauce. For some reason, the first time I was going to use the new bottle, I decided to read the ingredients. I had never done that before so imagine my surprise when I found out that one of the ingredients was alcohol! Now I know the alcohol evaporates with cooking, but I really prefer not use any of it any where, so I started researching and learned that not all soy sauce contains alcohol. I also read about Bragg Liquid Aminos, a healthy soy sauce alternative. I went to two grocery stores in town, but didn't find any for sale. I'm pretty sure the health food store sells it, but I'll have to leave an arm there as payment. I kind of need my arm so I tried to find a regular soy sauce with no alcohol as an ingredient.


The morning God had taken my heavy load off my shoulders I went grocery shopping. I was feeling content and God and I kept talking about all the amazing things He's been doing in my life. As I was finishing shopping I remembered the soy sauce. I went back to the health food section of the local supermarket and the very first thing I see there, on the bottom shelf, was a big bottle of Bragg Liquid Aminos!


A big, I mean... a HUGE smile installed itself on my face as I happily picked up a bottle to bring home. And I didn't even have to leave any body parts as payment! If someone was watching me, I'm thinking they went back to that shelf to see what was the source of such joy. The thing is that that morning, that bottle of Bragg Liquid Aminos was a little token of God's love for me as He knew I really wanted it. He was telling me, that in spite of all the things I've been going through, in spite of all my complaining, I mattered to Him so much that even the little things, my little things, are important to Him. Isn't that wonderful? I really felt loved by God!


If you have a heavy load on your shoulders I want to encourage you to give it to God. Stop focusing on the negatives of life. Stop looking at the problems and how they may affect your future. Give that all to God. And as you get that load off, I challenge you to start looking at the blessings that God bestows upon you every single day and see how many tokens of God's love you find. And remember that God's love can manifest itself in a very unexpected way. It could even be as a bottle of Bragg Liquid Aminos. 

"So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."

2 Corinthians 4:18