I live on the Great Plains of North America. No, we don’t get a lot of visitors to look at the wheat fields each fall. No one comes to see the dust clouds at harvest.
But it’s what I’ve got.
Wheat fields, some bush. A few lakes in the area. More fields. I can wave and see people wave back 100 miles away. (No, not really. The earth is a curved…)
I was visiting cousins in the Banff area of Alberta, Canada some time ago. Spectacular. Beautiful. Breathtaking.
Yeah. That’s NOT where I live.
Not me.
I’m not to worried about that though. Not even jealous! God has a plan to put everyone on the prairie. I just got here first.
Lemme explain.
The Back Story
Isaiah was a prophet to Jerusalem for about 40 years, sometime around 740-701BC. He was a “regular guy” with a wife and family. God chose to talk to Him about His plans of the future. God told Isaiah to warn the Kings of the Southern Kingdom of Israel, namely the Kingdom of Judah.
While Assyria was expanding their territory westward towards the Mediterranean, several kings came and went in power in the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Uzziah started great but ended his 42 year reign poorly. His son, Jotham was an amazing king, as compared to his Northern Kingdom counterparts, but nothing compared to King David of old. God condemned Jotham’s son, Ahaz as king, as he burned his children as sacrifices to the pagan gods and did other evils. Hezekiah did not want to be like his father, so although he wavered, he was known as being a good king, willing to listen to God through His prophets.
All this was going on as Amos, Hosea, Jonah and Micah were trying to influence the evil kings of the Northern Kingdom, for repentance and godliness. The Northern kings wholeheartedly did not comply and landed them in Assyria, as captives. The Southern Kingdom managed nearly150 years of extra freedom before God had his fill of 4 evils Southern kings and send them into exile to Babylon in 586 BC.
Here is what God says through Isaiah.
I was imagining the mountains being pulled up by their roots and smashing the mountains, tip-down, into the valley beside them. I was thinking of hills being overturned and raked over making them straight. All the places we could possibly trip over, fall on or wrench our ankles on would be laid as straight as a prairie highway. That’s a lot of flat land.
Why?
Why would God want to do that?
Truth be told, mountains block the sunset. Period.
You never truly get to see the glory of all the colors from start to finish, in the mountains. The light, in all the hues, gets hidden by something large and in the way.
In all honesty, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s not about actual mountains, hills, valleys or even prairies. When God made these things, He said it was good. (Gen 1). He’s not going to change His mind on perfection.
I think it’s showing us something else, like large and in-the-way things that are blocking your view of God.
Blocking things like His goodness? His radiance towards you? His kindness, faithfulness, love and trustworthiness? (Don’t worry, I’m asking myself the same question)
Take a moment and ponder what do you see FIRST when you encounter trouble. I tend to see fear. Fear of failure. Fear of not being enough. Perhaps others see depression or anxiety or forget-it-all-I’ll-just-do-what-I-want as a way of control. (Controlling the fear?)
Ask God, Dear One, how to remove that blockage. How to be captivated by the “Son-set” rather than the hunk of rock that blocks the view.
As for my cousins out in Alberta?
They can enjoy their mountains for now, but know for sure, they’re gonna live in the prairies to see the “Son-set” for eternity!