Commit to your mountain 

When I think about spending quality time with God, a hike I went on in mid-January of 2012 is top of mind. It was such a rich and beautiful experience which I often look back on and treasure. Have you ever had an experience that seems so ordinary and yet it impacts you in a significant way? That’s the case for me with this hike. Someone I’d spoken with over the Christmas holidays had pointed out how I live in such a beautiful place. They inspired me to get out into nature more often because I love nature, the outdoors, and hiking. It was a lovely Saturday in Cape Town so I decided to do just that.

I was feeling like God was prompting me to take time and spend it with Him. I decided to head to Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens to spend some quality time with God there. It’s a stunning, scenic, well-maintained, lush garden that I knew would provide a tranquil and safe space for that. After all, I feel closer to God in nature. I didn’t set out to hike though. It is generally not recommended to hike alone in South Africa for safety’s sake. I had actually never hiked alone. However, once I started walking around in the garden I couldn’t help myself. I felt drawn to climb a mountain for some reason so I hiked.

I would hike for some time then find a spot to sit with God awhile. What was meant to be a couple of hours of quiet time turned into a whole afternoon of walking and hiking along several trails in and connected to the garden. I conversed with God in my mind as I went along. The conversation was nothing profound. It was just a regular conversation like one someone might have with a friend. I could not see God yet I felt His presence so strongly that it felt tangible. It felt so natural and so real. I remember talking to God about how difficult it is to relate to Him sometimes as an incorporeal being. And so, to feel His presence that strongly following that was an affirming and direct response.

What surprised me the most was how much fun I had that day. It was as though I’d spent the afternoon with a really good friend. I walked for hours amongst the vast greenery and plant life. I took pictures of the beautiful landscape and marvelled at the splendour in the world around me as if I was seeing it for the first time. I guess I was seeing it with a fresh perspective. I washed my feet in the cool water of a stream I found and splashed some on my face. I delighted in the simplicity and the beauty of it all. A few times I felt scared of being alone with no one in sight. Yet I felt safe because I knew God was with me. At other times my brain would say, “You know this is weird, right?” Yet my soul felt loved, blessed, joyful, and filled up.

At times it was so still and quiet that I could hear the occasional rustling of leaves and creak of branches in the soft breeze. I could hear birds and insects in the thicket of trees and bushes. At some point, I could hear the gentle stream I left behind me. I imagined this was a glimpse of God’s original design. It was a design for an intimate, personal relationship with Him. It was a design for complete harmony with Him, with each other, and with nature. Everything was intended to be thriving, healthy, and pleasing. No struggling, no striving, no fear, and no death or decay. There wouldn’t be so much as a browning leaf in sight. We are meant to experience only joy, companionship, security, and wholeness. People and animals living in unity and peace side by side.

The next day, I heard a sermon that gave a deeper meaning to my desire to hike whilst spending time with God. It added another layer to my experience. It was a sermon by Brian Houston where he spoke about committing to your mountain. He spoke of how God is present not only at the beginning of something but also in the ending as well. He said that, often, seasons or phases in your life will come to an end in unexpected and abrupt ways and it’s difficult to see God’s hand in it but we should. Just because an era is over it doesn’t mean God’s done with you.

Brian also referred to Jeremiah 29:11 in the sermon saying it was spoken to a people facing an end to their dreams. Despite that, those people were told to carry on, plant gardens, marry, seek peace with their captors and continue trusting God. This struck a chord with me because since the year had begun, Jeremiah 29:11 had been on my heart. I was facing an end to some of my dreams. My life had changed in several unexpected ways, both good and not so good, over a short period. He ended off by using a mountain as an analogy saying we often face mountains in life but we need to commit to climbing the mountain because God remains faithful and will see us victorious in the end. It was like the previous day primed me to hear and be impacted by that message in a way that I might not have otherwise.

Love,