Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Mountains that looked just like the ones I had left behind in Pennsylvania seemed to fill the horizon as I drove down an unfamiliar country road. All I could think of were long, winding roads ahead of me  filled  with  steep  slopes  or  maybe miles of backtracking around the foothills. That was definitely not what I wanted to see.

My new life in  Michigan  was  struggle  enough  –  what  with  trying to find a new job, a new church, new friends, a new doctor and new connections in the community. The last thing I needed was another mountain to climb, real or figurative. Then I took another look. What I thought were mountains were actually peaks of mist rising from Lake Michigan. As I drove toward them, they began to vanish; they were airy and without substance. My fears had transformed them into a threat.

How many times in my life have I worried about challenges that lay ahead, only to find that they weren’t so difficult after all? And even when they were real, wasn’t God’s love sufficient to conquer them? ‘Keep your eyes on the Lord,’ I whispered to myself, ‘and you will find strength to make the rough places a plain’.

Prayer: Dear Lord, when we feel overwhelmed by life’s demands, help us to remember that you are always with us. Amen