By Rev. Aidan Moon

Lessons from a Mountain Goat

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

“For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;

I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.”

-Psalm 116:8-9

Photo credit to my brother Eli

When climbing a mountain, it’s always wise to watch your footing. Snow makes slippery footholds. Scree can slip out from under a foot, just like that. But somehow, mountain goats (even with hooves!) don’t seem to have much of a problem. They are hard-wired to clamber and climb and make it look deceptively easy.

Does life feel like a mountain path sometimes? Do you feel stuck, like you are holding on to a tiny foothold, or just worn out and unsure of your path? Our Lord promises to keep our feet from stumbling. He promises to uphold us and to lift us up. Jesus took a hard, hard path. He walked through suffering to a cross and an empty tomb, with sure and steady steps, so that you and I would be held up, even when our own footing seems unstable. He goes with you. The mountaintop is not too far away.

“Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”

-Isaiah 40:30-31

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado