Daily Jewel

Pastor J.T. Carnell, McAlester, OK


“The Security of God’s Wisdom”
“…before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth…” – Proverbs 8:25
“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” – Psalm 121:1, 2
I have used my childhood several times as a point of reference but I cannot escape nor ignore my years living in Colorado as the means to help understanding the strength of the text in Proverbs here. We moved to Colorado Springs when I was eleven and I lived there until I turned 18. It was then that I come to fall in love with the beauty and majesty of the mountains and what they would mean to my life. First—I think there is something about the security of just knowing they were there. Each morning if I wanted to know what the weather was going to be all I had to do was look out my bedroom window and if I could see Pikes Peak clearly I knew it would probably be a clear and sunny day. If the mountain was obscured by clouds then I pretty much knew we were in for a day of rain or snow. I also came to rely upon the mountains for direction. When I was not in the mountains I knew they would always be to my west. If I were traveling I did not have to know if I were going to north or south—if the mountains were on my right I knew I was going south. If they were to my left I was going north. If they were to my back I was going east. It was as simple as that. How I deeply miss being around those wonderful, beautiful peaks, hills and mountains! It makes me appreciate those times when I am there more than I did when I lived there. Even today when we travel to Denver to see my wife’s parents, there is that anticipation that as soon as we cross into Colorado from Kansas I cannot wait until I can see the outline of those mountains! It’s their way of letting me know that we are nearing our destination. If you are traveling west on I-70 when you are about 150 miles east of Denver you can begin to get a glimpse of them. They look like a shadow…but I get goose bumps just thinking about it. I don’t think the Psalmist was thinking about the Rocky Mountains when he was writing the 121st Psalm but perhaps he took the same satisfaction and joy that I do when I think about one of God’s greatest creations—not the just the hills or the mountains but what they represent. God’s life and what it represents!! To just look at the hills and know they are there by His design. There is a great amount of security in knowing where they are and why they are there as opposed to those theories that would place them there as a random act of nature. But something else grabs me—and it has to do with reliance! The Psalmist talks about relying upon God for his strength. As much as I relied upon those mountains for direction and for guidance I come to understand that His guidance will lead me—especially on those days when the hills are not there to guide me. And since I no longer live around a mountain my sense of direction is a bit out of whack! God knew what He was doing when He created this wonderful sphere called the earth—much more than what so many are willing to give Him credit for. Maybe more need to live around the mountains for a while to truly appreciate what they really mean—or maybe they need to rely upon God’s wisdom. In fact, that is exactly what they need.
Pastor J. T. Carnell