“LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong…” Psalm 30:7a AMP
In 1980 I lived in Northern Oregon and worked at Mid Columbia Medical Center (at that time called The Dalles General Hospital) in The Dalles, Oregon. Throughout the latter part of April and the first part of May of that year we kept hearing reports from the USGS that Mount St. Helens was having earthquakes in increasing frequency. There was a lot of speculation that Mount St. Helens (part of the Cascade Range which spans through Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia and contains 24 inactive and dormant volcanoes) just might erupt. Many people did not believe it would happen. Well it did. On May 18, 1980, at 8:32 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Mount St. Helens erupted in one of the deadliest and most economically destructive events in the history of the United States. The resulting devastation evidenced itself in the mountain loosing over 1,300 feet in height; in just seconds over 230 square miles of forest and vegetation were flattened, 185 miles of highways were destroyed, 47 bridges were annihilated, 250 homes were lost, and 57 people were killed. When a patient I was caring for called me to his room and pointed out the news broadcast about the eruption we, along with any ambulatory patients and staff available went to the 4th floor observation lounge and were able to look to the northwest and see the huge ash plume rise thousands of feet into the air. It was a scary and sober thing to witness.The Dalles is only about 20 miles from Mt. Hood (as the crow flies) so there was a lot of speculation amongst staff and patients whether it might erupt or not. Worry and fear was prevalent for days and weeks after Mount St. Helens erupted. I remember asking God about it and He led me to Psalm 30:7, “LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong…” His Word filled me with peace and removed all of my fear. I knew Mt. Hood would not erupt. I had His Word on it.
With all the worry and fear in the world today regarding the U.S. economy, the turmoil in the Middle East, and these uncertain times where do we turn? The mountains (of financial security, house ownership, stocks and bonds) that men have trusted in have blown up in their faces. Our government tries to fix the problems to no avail. Where do we look for security and peace?
In these times of erupting economical and international “mountains”, we should not fear. Even though it feels as if things are being destroyed around us, we know Who our trust is in. He will never fail or forsake us (Deut. 31:6-8; Josh. 1:5). Hard times may come and we may see many around us fall, but we will not be touched (Ps. 91:7). God has made our mountain (of being rooted and grounded in God’s love since Christ dwells in our hearts by faith – Eph. 3:17) to stand strong. So, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, you have His Word on it, STAND STRONG!
