I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? From the mountains? “Nope,” says the writer of Psalm 121, “my help comes from the Lord who made those mountains.”

We need help. Lots of it. Physical. Emotional. Psychological. Spiritual. So we set out on a quest. From where will it come? My bank account? My influence and power? My image? The mountains?

Nope.

Yet both “the mountain” and Psalm 121 have revealed to me something magnificent about my source of help – and your source of help, too. Check this out. Romans 1:20 tells us that God’s “eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.” That giant mound of ice, rock and snow that lives just south of us tells us something about God’s strength to help and his faithful presence with us.

We are entering that time of year when Mount Rainier eludes us for weeks at a time. The darkness, the clouds, the fog – they all make it impossible to see the mountain. During those seasons when you go weeks (or months?) without seeing Rainier, do you ever begin to wonder if it’s still there? What leads you to believe it will still be towering over the Plateau when the clouds finally part? You probably think something like, “It has never failed to be there before and just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there!”

You are right not to doubt Rainier’s towering and powerful presence even when you cannot see it.

Although Rainier cannot provide us with the kind of help we so desperately need, the mountain does tell us something about the one who created it. That is, though the darkness may hide it and the clouds veil its gaze upon us, the mountain is ever-faithfully present to us.

And so it is with the maker of that mountain. When it seems it’s been ages since you felt the Lord’s presence, or heard The Voice speak, or experienced a fresh wind of the Spirit, know that “he who keeps you will not slumber.”  Keep watching. Keep listening. The clouds will part. The sun will rise. And you will see that the one who made heaven and earth has been powerfully present, even in the darkness. Keep watching. And let me know what you see next time I see you.

Peter Little is the pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Buckley and can be reached at peter@cpcbuckley.org.