Who are thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it (Zech. 4:7).
W.M. Clayton once met an old Swiss who had been a professional mountain guide, and one thing he said was never forgotten. They were talking about the heights of mountains in Asia and North and South America compared with those of his native Switzerland, when he remarked, "Remember this, young man, a mountain is never so high as from the bottom." Then he explained: "When you stand at the base of a mountain that you have never climbed and look up to its heights, contemplating the dangers and difficulties plainly to be seen while calculating the hidden ones, that mountain looks high; but when you have actually climbed it and overcome all the difficulties and look down, it doesn't seem so high after all. You may know its height in feet, but you are not so impressed as you were at its base.
Zerubbabel was attempting to climb an unscalable mountain; he was trying to build the Temple of God against great difficulties and danger. Then came this promise form the Lord: The great mountain will vanish; it will actually become a plain. And it did. So with us--our mountains of difficulty, distress, and necessity may have no path over them, through them, or around them. Then faith comes, and the mountain disappears and becomes a plain. But before this happens, our faith must claim the Lord's word, "Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit" (Zech. 4:6).
We can never solve the tremendous problem that faces us. It is "not by might." Our difficulties cannot be removed by others. It is "not by power." It may be a great mountain, but when faith lays hold upon the mighty arm of God, it becomes a plain.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities" (Ps. 31:7).
W.M. Clayton once met an old Swiss who had been a professional mountain guide, and one thing he said was never forgotten. They were talking about the heights of mountains in Asia and North and South America compared with those of his native Switzerland, when he remarked, "Remember this, young man, a mountain is never so high as from the bottom." Then he explained: "When you stand at the base of a mountain that you have never climbed and look up to its heights, contemplating the dangers and difficulties plainly to be seen while calculating the hidden ones, that mountain looks high; but when you have actually climbed it and overcome all the difficulties and look down, it doesn't seem so high after all. You may know its height in feet, but you are not so impressed as you were at its base.
Zerubbabel was attempting to climb an unscalable mountain; he was trying to build the Temple of God against great difficulties and danger. Then came this promise form the Lord: The great mountain will vanish; it will actually become a plain. And it did. So with us--our mountains of difficulty, distress, and necessity may have no path over them, through them, or around them. Then faith comes, and the mountain disappears and becomes a plain. But before this happens, our faith must claim the Lord's word, "Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit" (Zech. 4:6).
We can never solve the tremendous problem that faces us. It is "not by might." Our difficulties cannot be removed by others. It is "not by power." It may be a great mountain, but when faith lays hold upon the mighty arm of God, it becomes a plain.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities" (Ps. 31:7).
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