On a late afternoon when the clouds gather around the peaks and the lightning begins to play its games over the mountain meadows, the high country is no place to be, but it can be spectacular to watch from a safe distance. At such times the hills can be alive with a sound that isn’t music, but it has a magnificence of its own.”
–Louis L’Amour (Passin’ Through)
Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.”
–Exodus 20:18 (NKJV)
———————-
I’ve been in the high country during some of those terrific, magnificent lightning and thunder displays. It is a tremendous sight, awe-inspiring, but also frightening. The lightning flashes and then the thunder rolls shaking the very ground upon where you are standing. You must run from it to seek shelter, but you do not want to miss the spectacle.
I believe that is why when God speaks to us that it is usually in the small, quiet voice. If not, we would quake and not hear what He has to say, but be more interested in the grandeur which is displayed. If He spoke aloud as He did at creation we would not listen. One day we shall see Him as He is, and I believe hear Him when He speaks.
A trip to creation gives us a snippet of His voice.
“How wonderful, O Lord, are the works of your hands! The heavens declare Your glory, the arch of sky displays Your handiwork. In Your love You have given us power to behold the beauty of Your world robed in all its splendor. The sun and the stars, the valleys and hills, the rivers and lakes all disclose Your presence. The roaring breakers of the sea tell of your awesome might, the beasts of the field and the birds of the air bespeak Your wondrous will. In Your goodness You have made us able to hear the music of the world. The voices of loved ones reveal to us that You are in our midst. A divine voice sings through all creation.”
–Traditional Jewish prayer
Dare you take the time to visit, then do not waste it; take the time to listen. Listen to the song that comes by the wind through the leaves of the trees. Listen to the singing of the water as it babbles along in a small brook. Hearken to the call of the hawk as it courses through the sky seeking its prey. There are so many sounds. I remember walking up in Maryland. Suddenly, a loud “pop” as a high-powered rifle, only louder, cracked behind me forcing me to turn in wonder as I saw the trunk of a very large tree, shatter thirty feet above the ground.
Here is a little devotional study. Look at all the times that God met with people on mountains. See the characteristics of the event. For example, Moses in receiving the commandments; or the Mount when God spoke in the presence of His Son and Peter, James and John.