To begin with, the mountains provide a place of isolation, a place separate and private from the pressures of daily living.  In the mountains, you are free from sudden interruptions, distracting noises, and unwelcome guests.

There are no cell phones in the mountains.  No email.  No televisions.

Just you, and silence, and God.

While it’s clear that JD spent her two months in the mountains weeping with her girlfriends, I’m confident that part of that time was spent in isolation as well.  Maybe she wandered away from the girls and found a shady spot under a tree to sit and think for awhile.  Perhaps she wore a path into the ground as she paced the same route over and over again.  Or maybe multiple nights went by that she found herself lying on her back, counting the stars and contemplating the God who created them.

She couldn’t spend those two months at home because the need to get away was very real.  She needed the isolation that the mountains had to offer.  She needed to withdraw from her everyday surroundings.

Even Jesus felt the need to withdraw every now and then, going to the mountains regularly to do so.  Sometimes he’d go alone; other times he’d bring his disciples with him.  But no matter how busy or hectic his ministry became, Jesus regularly slipped away to go to the mountains. Sandwiched in between two famous moments in Jesus’ ministry – the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus walking on water – is the simple statement that “Jesus…withdrew again to a mountain by himself” (John 6:15).  These mountainside encounters could easily get buried in the hustle and bustle of the Gospels, but if you read carefully, you’ll see just how many of Jesus’ private and intimate moments occur in the mountains.

It may be that you experience plenty of private and isolated moments. Maybe you live by yourself and are going stir-crazy because your only problem is having too much time alone.  But understand that even people who live alone seldom experience quality isolation.  Radios and morning talk shows invade our quiet mornings.  The drive to work is tainted with honking horns and blaring music. And we fall asleep to the sounds of canned laughter echoing in syndication from our televisions.

There is a big difference between distracted silence and focused silence.  Jephthah’s daughter did not retreat to the mountains to clear her mind; she went to focus her mind.  Being alone and being still are sometimes not enough.  In order to make the most of your mountain-moments, you must realize that proximity to people is not the issue.  The issue is your proximity to God.  Having a true mountaintop experience does not involve you being alone with your thoughts; it involves you being alone with his thoughts.  For it’s in the silence that God sometimes speaks the loudest.

Q: When life isn’t going exactly the way we wish it would, sometimes we have great intentions of going to the mountains and meeting with God, but end up taking a few detours along the way.  What are some other stops you tend to make before you get to the mountains?