Mountains, Guardrails, and Storms

My family and I recently took a trip to the western part of the United States. We went through long stretches of desert and climbed high mountains, several close to ten thousand feet. What I noticed when we were at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, in the mountains of California, and at Yellowstone National Park, is that there were few guardrails in the high places. I was shocked. One slip of the foot, one veering too far to the right or to the left, and the fall is long.

If the roads are that treacherous in good weather, how much more so covered in snow and ice! Those narrow roads and steep cliffs gave me more than a bit of fear. So, when I drove, the speedometer stayed further to the left, lest I lose control and we fall to our deaths thousands of feet below. Unhelpfully, my husband Shawn mentioned the wealth of stories about those who have fallen off cliffs and cars that have wrecked—the danger was not imaginary!

Adding to the unease was the realization that the weather could be very different a mere thousand feet higher in elevation. One day we had just finished visiting Mount Rushmore and were on the way back to our vehicle when suddenly it began to thunder and lightning. Then rain poured down upon us, soaking us through and through as we hurried the half mile to our vehicle. Soon it began to hail. I was worried about traversing the steep winding road down the mountain because of the hail. We crept along thinking that we would have to drive twenty-five miles back to our hotel in a hailstorm which could make the road very icy. After we went down 500–1000 feet in elevation, there was no rain or hail to be seen and the sun began peeking out of the clouds. The weather on the mountain was much different than the weather closer to sea level. Elevation made all the difference.

I felt insecure and fearful up in the heights because the weather could change in an instant and because there were very few guardrails. I am not used to such conditions. I returned home feeling very grateful for guardrails when I had never really paid much attention to them before. Reflecting upon my experience in the guardrail-less mountains brought to mind Psalm 18:33, “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights” and 1 John 4:18, “perfect love drives out fear.”

There are times in life when storms appear out of nowhere and we feel as if we are on shaky footing. We have decisions to make. Situations around us may be spiraling out of control because folks are not acting as they should, or perhaps we receive a much-feared medical diagnosis. In situations like these, every step can seem treacherous. This is when we need to remind ourselves, and we need the Church to remind us that God loves us deeply so we need not be afraid. That he will not let our feet slip, that we can depend on Him and good people to help us through. This is true even amid a bad medical diagnosis.

Of course, we need to practice not fearing. So, we can call our pastors and wise others to pray for us and encourage us. We can read God’s Word, or have it read to us so that we come to think the best about God and grow still more confident in Him. Perhaps we will also need to take medication for anxiety. We need not beat ourselves up because we are fearful and weak. After all, we are only human.

The truth is, no road, no conditions, are too treacherous for God. Treacherous for us certainly, but not for the Lord. As we put our confidence in Him, and trust Him every inch of the way, and rely on the good people He has sent to assist us, He will take us safely through without allowing us to careen off into an abyss. This is true even if the journey leads us on to the rest of eternal life. We need not fear the heights, nor storms in the heights. God is holding us and we are safe because we are in Him.

–Written by Marlena Graves. Used by permission from the author.