More from the Retreat:
When I arrived on Sunday, I could see the mountains covered with snow to the east from my window. Looking out brought peace. Tuesday I could only see the base of the mountains as the storms blew in. The tops of the mountains are there … I know they are there … but they are obscured by the storm clouds. I felt a need to see all the mountains, the very tops … I needed the storms to quiet and clear.
“God, I know You are there. I see but a part. I need to know you, perceive and see you, find out and discern your presence. I need to know by experience. I need the storms in me to quiet and clear.”
Mid-afternoon Tuesday as I stood at the window and looked for the mountains, I was overwhelmed. I remembered Moses as he climbed up the mountain to meet with God and I asked God a simple question. “I have a little strength, will it be enough to climb the mountain, LORD?”
It was then I heard Him speak. “But, child, you have a little strength.” I rushed for my Bible. I knew that phrase “little strength” was in one of the letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation, but my mind was a complete blank to which one. I stood by the window, skimming through the letters, looking for those words, “little strength.”
Then I found them, and I began to sob. They are in the letter to the church at Philadelphia. Philadelphia is my birthplace! As I read Jesus’ words I wept and wept. As I sit here now, I am once again weeping. [Rev 3:7-13]
Yes, LORD. It is a little strength, but it is enough to climb the mountain.
