Mountains and Ravines

“You make springs pour water into ravines
So streams gush down from the mountains.
They provide water for all the animals…
You send rain on the mountains
From your heavenly home,
And you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.” (Ps. 104:10,13 NLT)

Massive mountains and deep ravines… both are extremely difficult to navigate. Why did God create either? Why can’t life be more like gently rolling pasture land?
 
 Mountains cause air to rise and cool. The moisture in the air condenses and falls as rain on the windward side of the mountain. Ravines are cut into the mountains by the force of flowing water. So mountains promote rainfall, which falls into ravines, causing gushing rivers that sustain growth down-stream.

Every mountain in our life, every hardship, causes God’s spirit in us to rise, condense, and fall like rain. This rainfall leads to flowing water, which in turn carves deep channels within us, through which grace rushes down-stream, nourishing us and others.

There are phases in our life that are similar to gently rolling pasture land. Most of us prefer these periods of rest and peace over the hardships of climbing treacherous mountains. However, the extreme conditions, the radical changes in elevation and the physical and mental discipline that are required to summit these mountains, strengthen our faith and our trust in God. Our mountaintop experience promotes compassion, empathy, and vulnerability, which, in turn, enrich everyone that we encounter.