"The mountain is out": finding God's presence even when you can't see it.

Living in Washington State means abiding in the shadows of multiple volcanos. The most prominent is Mount Rainer which towers 14,000 feet above sea level, making it one of the largest mountains in the continental US. Its presence is glorious and massive, filling the skyline with its beauty. Unfortunately, for roughly 200 days per year, you can’t see it due to the cloud cover that so commonly obscures the Seattle skies.  Therefore, when you can see it, people stop and take notice.  We even have a saying here because of the elusive nature of the view— when beholding its beauty, people casually comment: “The mountain is out.”

Because of its relative rarity, when the mountain is out, even the native Washingtonians, those who have grown up with it, take notice and remark on its splendor.  For the visitors to the state, especially those hailing from flat lands, the view can be jaw-dropping and mind blowing.  It is hard to fathom such an enormous mountain can be so close by.  And yet, when the clouds come, one would hardly know that it’s there.  Sometimes you can literally go weeks without seeing it.  So much so that it can be easy to forget its existence and presence altogether.  And then one day, the sun breaks through, the mountain comes out, hearts are filled with the reminders of beauty, and the cycle continues.  That’s why another saying has creeped into our vernacular and has found its way onto shirts and stickers— “Live like the mountain is out”.  It’s a reminder that even when we can’t see it, the beauty is still there.  It never ceases to exist.

On a recent hike on Mt Rainier, I was contemplating how seeing the mountain is a lot like sensing the presence of God. There are times when we acutely perceive his presence. We know that he is working.  Wefeel his love in a nearly tangible way. It is like he is all around us, in his glory, impossible to ignore.  We live differently in times like that. 

Yet, there are other times when his presence is clouded.  We’re uncertain of his plan.  We feel abandoned. We forget his love for us.  In these times, the fact that we can’t see him makes us forget about his omnipresence.  Our blindness fools our minds into thinking that he isn’t here at all. But just because we don’t see him, doesn’t mean that he has left us.  He is just as present in the cloudy times as in the clear times. Our perception doesn’t change his reality.

Psalm 139 states:

 “Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast (Psalm 139: 7-10).”

There is nowhere on earth void of God’s presence.  The key is learning to live, acknowledging that fact, even when he seems to be hiding. 

  On that hike, which was to one of the closest vistas to the summit of Mt. Ranier, the clouds obscured the mountaintop.  I was hiking with my son, and for his sake, I wanted him to be able to experience the view.  I specifically asked God for “his favor to see the mountain that day.” By his grace, the clouds did part, giving us a few intermittent precious views of the glory of the summit. I was reminded how God does not stay hidden from us when we seek him. My favorite verse is found in Jeremiah: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:13).  A longing heart, attuned to seeking God, will find him. Just like I could drive to the mountain on the cloudy day and experience it while it remained invisible in the cities, we can always come to God, searching, and find the reality of his presence.  We just have to be willing to look for it even when we don’t immediately feel it.

            So friends, I encourage you to not take fleeting beauty for granted.  Find ways to remember the presence of goodness, grace and love, even when they aren’t immediately apparent.  Take comfort in the omnipresence of God, who holds you tight, wherever you may be, even when you don’t perceive it.  If you can’t find him, ask him to reveal himself.  He promises to be found. And finally, live each day as if your God and the mountain is out.