We’ve talked about seeing life and circumstances through a different point of view and how changing our perspectives can help tremendously. Then, we talked about walking through transitions in life and how life always seems to be changing. In all of our lives, we will have our ups and down, our mountains and valleys, our successes and failures. What do we do with the hard times when we feel both alive and dead? The times when all seems to go right in one area of our life and yet we still struggle to survive in another area?

The Rocky Mountains recently gave me a new perspective on this. It was called the Tundra. After a long climb, where I will admit I stopped at every sign to read not because of the reading but because I was very winded, I reached the top!  I was 12,000 feet above sea level and I believe I was the last in my family to make it there. As I stood at the top, it was cold, extremely windy and quite bare if you did a quick glance around you. Did I mention it was a 360 degree view? It was beautiful.

After taking pictures next to the sign which marked my elevation, I saw the vegetation. There was life in the middle of chaos, with cold winds blowing, and in a high altitude with lower amounts of oxygen making it harder to breathe! How was this possible? Wouldn’t they freeze? How were they able to grow?

Ever feel you’re in a tundra; a place so cold and windy you feel you can’t thrive and grow? Times when you feel you’re on top of the mountain and then something comes and blows you off of your feet? How can you grow in an environment like that? We need to see what the flowers, plants, and animals do: they stay close to the ground.

The flowers and the plants that were growing weren’t tall at all. By being close to the ground, the temperatures under the greenery and flowers were at least 15 degrees warmer than outside of their protection. Animals that live up there take full advantage of this opportunity for warmth and protection from the wind. Both plants and animals stay close to the ground.

No matter where you are on your journey, whether at 12,000 feet above sea level with the winds of life are blowing against you or at the beginning of the trail, there will still be plenty of evidence that God is all around you. In fact, God is Who grounds us and provides for our protection against the hard temperatures of circumstances and others. He shields us from the cold winds that blow in our face that can take our breath away. He calms us when we feel we cannot breathe well enough to take another step. I’d like to think He places signs for us to read along the way when we are too tired to breathe easily.

Getting to the top of the tundra has its beautiful views that cannot be matched. To see those views and to taste the victory, you can expect difficulty along the way. Stay close to God. Feel His warmth as He protects you. Sit down, relax, and soon you’ll be breathing much better.

© 2018 Susan M. Sims

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