We like to go to the mountains. It's crazy, but even though we live at the beach, it's in the mountains that we feel closest to God and can be genuinely refreshed. There is one particular cabin we have found where the view from the deck is truly breath taking, especially in the spring. Flowers cover the foreground, while majestic mountains, millennia old, fill the background. How can anyone see such wonder and claim there is no God? But one day, while at the cabin, the clouds had moved in and were so thick it blocked the view. All that could be seen were dark threatening clouds. Were the mountains and flowers gone? In our everyday lives we love the mountain top experiences where God seems especially close and the view of our lives is pristine and unblemished, but does all that vanish just because storm clouds roll in? Of course not. God is just as close. His word tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. Why then are we so quick to forget the view of what is eternal and trade it for the things that are only here for a short time? We have a couple of friends who are worship leaders, people of music whom God has anointed to draw people into God's throne room through music. During Hurricane Florence, their house, which they had owned less than a year was flooded. That would have been bad enough but less than a month prior to the storm, the primary bread winner had lost his job suddenly and I might add seemingly unfairly. In a situation like that, it can be so hard to see the mountains! What is amazing is that in the middle of all of it, while there was still water filling their home, God gave them the most beautiful worship song and while the storm passed and the damage with it, that song remains and is a source of encouragement to many and will be for years to come. They didn't focus on the storm but on the mountain of God's word. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deut. 31:6 NIV For today, choose to trust what is eternal, rather than what is temporary.