Come Away to the Mountain!

“Come away to the mountain!” Yahweh said.

And Abraham did it, feeling deep dread,

hope hanging dark on a covenant thread –

knowing the mount was for sacrifice,

blood thrumming out the desperate price

of coming close to God.

“Come away to the mountain!” It was a call

that brought Moses up high forty long days

to receive the covenant words of the Law,

then a second climb up to ask forgiveness

for the sinful unfaithfulness of his people.

He had come close to God.

“Come away to the mountain for rest and prayer!”

 No wonder the Son took his intimates there

for a quiet retreat where they could prepare

for the horrors to come that would test their faith,

when he’d give up his life on a mount in their place,

and open the way to come close to God.

When I was in my early childhood in Congo, every breakfast included a special routine: Mom would pick up the little box of memory verse cards from the center of the table, read a reference and ask us to say them. One verse in particular grabbed my heart’s attention and took deep root:

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. (James 4:8 KJV)

As I grew up I kept yearning for that sense of “nearness.” How could I actually draw near to God? He showed me along the way that I had to turn my heart’s attention to him: reading his Word and doing what it says, singing praise songs with real focus on him, and listening to his Voice when he would correct me or prompt me to do something.

Then when I had been serving in mission for years I was feeling overwhelmed with demands on my time and energy. We were facing challenges I had never expected. I was worn out, longing for respite. And I heard the Voice nudging me to take a break: practice solitude. I actually began to call it “the solitude of two.” I would seek out a private space where I could retreat with Jesus, and his Spirit would meet me there with peace. Sometimes it was next to a river, sometimes it was inside the thatched gazebo in our yard. Here in the States, it is often at a park, also by a river. Water is refreshing and quiets my soul.

Jesus retreated like that too. After teaching the crowds, dealing with adversaries, healing the sick, he would go off to a mountain to pray and ready himself for the next journey (cf John 8:1). And after sharing deeply with his disciples the evening before he would be sent to his death, he went with them to the Mount of Olives and separated himself to prepare for what was coming, to pray. There had been other moments too. Retreat was and is a healthy spiritual practice.

As mentioned in the poem above, the Lord God, Yahweh, called his servants to the mountains for special times of teaching crucial truths as well. Those were protected private spaces. Like me, perhaps you find it tough to find a “mountain” nearby, but you can find some place in nature where you can flee from distractions, let your heart pour out its questions or needs to God, and then wait for him to respond. I always have my Bible at hand for when he calls a passage to mind and I take a notebook for notes (because I often “hear him” though my pen).

Sometimes he has specific directions to give in answer to a particular dilemma. Sometimes he is teaching, encouraging you or correcting you. Sometimes he just wants you to spend time with him, basking in his loving Presence, resting.  As he said:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Mat 11.28)

Listen! Is he saying “Come away to the mountain!” ?