"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD" ~Isaiah 2:3

Views from the Helderberg

A Glimpse of Jonah
          Last weekend, I hiked to the top of the Helderberg, one of the well known mountains of Somerset West. The sweat was running down as the heat of the day became more intense. No clouds in sight; no shade to walk by. However as I approached the top of the mountain, a thin canopy of cloud spread over the peak. I could suddenly feel the coolness of the breeze wafting by, and my mind suddenly began dwelling on the story of Jonah; the shade God provided him while on the hill; the shade which He took away. And I was much grateful for the cover above. However, I thought, surely the shade couldn't have been the lesson to Jonah; what was God teaching him?... Suddenly a cry echoed out over the rocks, and in the distance I could see two figures now at the top; a shout of victory! After a few minutes, I too hit the peak and was introduced to the men, Jeff and Carl. A very brief chat later, they were headed down the mountain. Opening then to Jonah, I began reading the fourth and last chapter to find what i failed to remember. And the portion which stuck with me, the same portion which I before had missed the significance of was this:

Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” (vs 9-11)

Prioritized Focus

          The prideful, grudging desires of and responses to the flesh will lead to hardened heart against all who are lost and dead, an unwillingness to carry out the Lord's work in ministry, even a distaste for the result of that work once carried out. So it was one thing to have been thanking God for shade that day, yet I hadn't lifted a finger to pray for and talk to the lost.

Daniel?… I know him!

The cross I made at the
peak from a plant

          I started down the mountain and before long had caught up with Jeff and Carl. While finding our way down the rocky portion, it came upon Carl to ask me to remind him of my name. He was quite mused that his brother was also named Daniel, and carried on to say that Daniel was indeed a great man. In complete agreement I concurred, adding also that he gave us may great examples. However Carl had in fact meant his brother and was skeptical that I actually knew him and this, how did I have this knowledge of him? When I proceeded to tell him I was referring to the Biblical character, his reply was, "Oh! No, I've moved beyond that stuff"... BAM!!! a completely open door into discussing God, discussing the Bible, discussing all sorts of things. Isn't it wonderful how God uses our pitiful mistakes and misconceptions in a conversation to carry out His precious work!

Fruitful Discussion
          From that moment for about an hour, as we hiked downward, there was such fruitful discussion about nature, physics throughout, nominal hypocritical Christians, various other religions, the existence of only one God amoung the millions which man has created, the destructiveness of following God for religion's sake, and other such topics. My heart was filled with such incredible joy in the Master's workings. Is their salvation not infinitely more precious than a mere patch of shade!

          Now I ask you to pray for these men, as Elijah once prayed for his servant: “O LORD, I pray, open [their] eyes that [they] may see." May God reveal Himself to them that they might clearly see Him through all that surrounds them

Jeff (left) and Carl (right)