Making Molehills

We’ve all heard the expression "making mountains out of molehills." In other words, we make small problems into momentous challenges for no good reason. All of us are guilty of this at one time or another. Often our expectations, our emotions, and/or our tendency to complicate the simple are what create those insurmountable peaks. We find ourselves scaling jagged cliffs, holding on for dear life, when we started out on a simple stroll through the woods.

Some of the "mountains" in our lives emerge by surprise overnight, bursting through the surface like hungry lava from a dormant volcano. Loss of loved ones, loss of employment, and serious health issues come to mind. Other times, we create the mountains ourselves by pushing the snowball up the slope until it’s so thick and heavy, it threatens to flatten us at a moment’s notice. Sin in which we’ve become ensnared, resentments that have festered, and guilt that has piled up over the years are examples familiar to me in my own life. Regardless of the cause, a giant obstacle stands between us and freedom.

There is an ample supply of "self-help" books and so-called experts out there with an arsenal of ideas about how to deal with the mountains in our lives. A former colleague of mine was particularly fond of these resources. She would often listen to them on tape in her car, temporarily energized by the latest fad to ease what troubled her. One of her favorite books used this very same mountain analogy. The expert’s advice was to scale that mountain full speed ahead and not stop until you’ve conquered it, planting your flag of dominance firmly at the summit. Mastery and self-control are the only acceptable solutions. Show that problem who’s boss!

Of course, what the self-help books fail to address is what happens once we scale the mountain and plant our flag. Assuming we’ve had the strength to make it there, is it really habitable at the top? Are we to pitch a tent at the summit of our problems, setting up residence on the very source of what plagues us, cut off from all the good in our lives that still dwells like a speck at the bottom? When the rains come – and they will – won’t we be battered more severely with no one and nothing to provide us shelter?

Our God has conquered all this world has to offer, all the mud it has to sling, and all the mountains we create for ourselves. God is capable of parting the waters of the seas and reducing the highest peaks to a pile of pebbles. But more importantly, God has given us the perfect expert to advise us, and His words of wisdom are found in a well-known and accessible book – you can even get it on tape, if you wish. His plan is tried and true, guaranteed to work.

Jesus alone can conquer all the mountains that form in our midst, all the insurmountable peaks we place in our own paths. He does not conquer them by encouraging us to scale them – it is a waste of our time and energy. Nor does He conquer them by removing them completely – all our struggles serve a purpose in our lives. He carefully and deliberately deconstructs them, sifting through the rubble of sin and suffering to leave a meaningful, manageable molehill from which we may grow and fertilize our faith. You see, He climbed all our mountains for us long before they were formed. The spikes that pierced His precious flesh created fissures in the rock of our sin. His cleansing blood left a flat, fruit-filled foundation from which we may build our lives. Here is where we should plant our flag of freedom and faithfulness.

Is a mountain of pain or an insurmountable challenge standing in your path? Join me in putting down that climbing gear, picking up God’s Word, and consulting the ultimate expert. Jesus is ready to make a molehill out of that mountain. Are you ready to let Him? I know I am.