I Look to the Hills

I remember when I was a small child my folks had a wall hanging that quoted Psalm 121:1, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence comes my help?" I would look out our back window to the hills in the valley where I lived and think that strength came from looking up at them. Over the years I would climb to the top of the hill and look over the valley and feel a sense of calm as I reflected on all the activities of life.

But as the years went by I realized that the hills themselves only provided a brief respite from all the trials and pain of life. The psalmist goes on to say in the next verse, "My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth." There is the answer. I was looking at the wrong source of help. Help does not come from earthly things - it comes only from Our Father Who made them.

So many times we get caught in the deceptions of Satan. He provides avenues of temporary relief. Sometimes in the form of substances, such as alcohol or drugs and sometimes in the form of a "friend". We can become addicted to the relief that they bring, only to realize just as I did years ago that it is temporary. The let down each time becomes even more acute and the desire for relief even more profound. These addictions destroy relationships and reputations. It brings destruction and pain. And yet - the addited soul looks continually for its relief.

It is only as we bring our addiction to the foot of the cross and give it to the only one Who can lift us up from the pit that we begin to see that our true help has been provided and was there all along. Sadly, in the process we pay the price for our sin along the way. Often times even those that we love must pay for the choices we make.

Now when I look to the mountains I do not view them as the source of my help. I look at them as a reminder of how easy it was for me to be deceived. I cry out now to my Father and bow to Him in total surrender to how he wants me to live. My strength comes from my Father. There is no substance, no friend and no human love that can truly bring that kind of strength into our lives.

A view from the chair today is one of clarity. I see that God provides images such as hills to remind us of His promises from the Scripture. I am grateful each day for that provision.