God of the mountains

Ps 121:1&2 “I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven and earth and mountains.”

Mountains are awesome and breath-taking to behold. Só firm and unmoving, but those things that are easy to behold and look at is not our salvation.
Sometimes people in powerfull positions, big business, bankers or politicians seem just as powerfull and unmoving as the mountains. But strong and influential as some of them may be – they are not our help. God is!!! Our God is greater than the mountains. Our God moves mountains. Our God created mountains.

Lord – I can look to man, or committees, or institutions to save me. But I choose this day to look to You! You are my rock – my foundation!

BLINDFOLD

I will never leave you nor forsake you." Joshua 1:5

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.
Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.
The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Moral of the story: Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there. "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

About Quitting.

Ps 119:158 “I took one look at the quitters and was filled with loathing; they walked away from Your promises so casually.”

- The psalmist hates quitters.
(I’ve had times where I felt like quitting...)

- They fill him with loathing - meaning 'to hate, dislike.'

(I loathe myself sometimes for failing and making mistakes… )

- They walked away from God’s promises.

(I’ve done that too … and it was foolish of me!)

All of us will feel like quitting sometimes. Maybe the answer is to loathe “quitting.”

If I stop something, it should be because I choose to. I’ve made the calculations and decided that a certain project / venture / commitment is not worth continuing. And I make a calculated decision.
Quitting usually flows from a sense of being emotionally overwhelmed.
And our emotions don't make good decisions. They react to the moment. That's why wise people postpone decision making till the emotional storm has past.

"God – give me discernment to know when to stop something, and when not to. Help me not to be a quitter. Rather a decision maker who weighs facts and calculate the cost of my decisions. I will not react! With Your help I can make wise decisions."

* Taken from my Journal Writings on Psalms.

STOUT HEARTED

Ps 138:3 “When I called, You answered me; You made me bold and stout hearted.”

When we feel the pressure of defeat... the stress of failure... the angst of impending doom... we brace ourselves for the moment of impact.
Crunch time!
We know it's coming - the point where things start caving in around us.
Crash!
That unavoidable instant when we take the hit.
Will we survive?

→ If only our hearts won’t fail!

You get a letter from the bank... and it's not looking good.
Your wife speaks the dreaded "D" word.
Your child breaks your heart with his foolish life choices.
The company you worked for all your life is closing down,
- and you're left stranded.
You brace yourself as the doctor gives you bad news regarding your health.

→ If only our hearts won’t fail!

This is David’s cry: "Lord, give me a strong heart!" and God answers with strength and courage.

We have a refuge to run to. A source of strength. We call on our God and He hears us. We receive from Him boldness. He makes us “stout-hearted” meaning: brave, gutsy, fearless, unafraid, heroic.

You can call on this same God, and He will answer in the same way. He will give you a bold and stout heart.