“Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.“
Psalm 90:1-2

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Have you ever gone on a walk through the forest? This is one of my favorite things to do. One of the reasons I love it so much is that the trees—so deeply alive, created by the Creator just as I am—are living a much more patient life than I am. While I scurry around from day to day, attempting to complete my complex to-do lists, the trees stay in one place, breathing in and out (they do!), communicating with each other (they do this too!). There is something in their slow, steady weathering of seasons and trials that God uses to remind me of His faithfulness, His invitation to take a deep breath and trust God’s presence.

I also love hiking through forested mountains. At any given step, the view is the same as it is here in the plains: tree trunks, tree branches, leaves above, roots below. The ups and downs, elevation aside, you can’t see the mountain you’re on.

Just last spring, my family was hiking along the lower elevations of Mount Rainer in Washington. The upper paths were closed due to 80 feet of snow, and the skies were cloudy. We couldn’t see Rainer at all—even though we were on Rainer. Only several days later, after driving a few hundred miles away, were we able to see this white capped-peak in the distance.

If trees remind me of steady, long-term, non-anxious faithfulness, how much more the ancient rocks of the mountains? Compared to their all-but-timelessness, even the oldest trees are like weeds that pop up in spring and quickly fade away.

But compared to God, even these mountains are fleeting newcomers, here today and gone tomorrow. Before the mountains were born…from everlasting you are God.

And like the mountains, God is our dwelling place. The fact that we cannot see Him is simply because we live within His presence.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • Have you ever compared your life’s pace to that of a tree or mountain?
  • What about your life span?
  • What can God teach you through His creation?
  • What do we learn about God when we consider that God is our dwelling place, and has been since before the mountains were born?

Church Reading Plan: Isaiah 29; 3 John 1