There is nothing, for me at least, that can match the experience of being out in the rugged mountains of the Pacific Northwest enjoying the utter and absolute magnificance of God’s created world all about me. Far away from nearly anything man-made, it provides me with the opportunity to remember how powerful and awesome, how mighty the Creator of the universe really is.

I was seated outside a tiny 14 foot square Forest Service fire lookout in a rugged area of the Boise National Forest, gazing far into the distance, the only sound the voices of my grandsons in the background, the sound of a chipmunk chattering, and the occasional cries and calls of birds around me. The sun had been dropping towards the horizon back of me and as it descended further towards the west the deep canyons below be became darker. Even though the mountain tops and high ridges were still bathed in a soft and muted sunlight, that brightness had long been gone from the canyon depths around me.

I then remembered that, not long after the sun had stolen its light from this corner of the earth I presently occupied, a nearly full moon would be chasing it up over the horizon to the east and this mountaintop sanctuary would once again be saturated in light–a subdued, yet beautiful light in its own right. And by the time the moon was descending towards the western horizon a scant few hours from now, it would already be getting light in the east as the sun prepared for one more day of blessing God’s Creation with its warmth and light.

Except for the depths of those canyons around me. The amount of direct sunlight they received was limited. The amount of light provided for the moon was even less. So much of a 24-hour period in the bottom of those canyons were times of little light.

You know something? It reminds me of our journey through life with God. I realize we can’t always be on the mountain top. There are those occasions where, as we move forward in our walk with Him, where we find we have to cross through some valleys that are pretty deep and dark. But, if we are always on the move, if we are always looking up, if we refuse to stop or to turn back, the mountain top will always be there ahead of us, beckoning us forward, urging us towards that Light.

Friends, let’s not loiter in the valley. Let’s keep moving towards the mountain top. We can live with the hope that God will walk with us through the deep canyons and valleys, but it is on the mountaintop where we can truly behold His Glory. Keep climbing!