Are you familiar with moles? As in the critter? Do you have any experience with the molehills and tunnel damage they wreak upon your yard? Unfortunately, I do. Moles can be minor menaces.
Do you have any experience with turning molehills into mountains? Unfortunately, I’ve experienced that as well! It seems I’m good at it. Taking something small and minor and turning it into something major. One little rude comment from a patient ends up ruining my day. One thing breaks in the house, and well, let’s just burn it down. The saying, “Just because it’s a bad day doesn’t mean it’s a bad life,” is so true! Yet often, turning molehills into mountains is what we do.
But not our God! It seems the opposite is true of Him. He turns mountains into molehills. Actually, he does even better than that! In the little book of Zechariah, God speaks. And it’s so good! This guy Zerubbabel (yes, that’s a mouthful) is rebuilding the temple. He’s having lots of setbacks, problems, and issues with the construction. God comes in and addresses all that stuff by simply saying, “What are you, oh mighty mountain? I will turn you into a plain.” (Zechariah 4:7)
I love both of those sentences. In “what are you, oh mighty mountain?,” I can hear disdain and sarcasm, and almost a humorous “trolling” of that mountain. It’s like, “I dare you to even try to tell me what you are, because you are literally nothing to me!” And the second sentence is not only a definite declaration of power and might, but a precious promise to each of us. “I will turn you into a plain.” I will make you flat. Flatter than even a molehill!
Whether the mountains in our lives have come from our own molehill-makings, or if they are legitimate problems and hardships, we can take comfort in these words. We can find confidence and assurance and strength in them. Whether in this lifetime or the one to come, He is able, faithful, and just to take down any mountains we are up against.
“What are you, oh mighty mountain? I will make you a plain.” What an amazing picture of grace. Amen! So be it!