Mount Everest: 29,035 Feet. To put this mountain into perspective, if you jumped out of an airplane cruising at 29,000 feet, it would take a little over 3.5 minutes before you hit the ground. Since the late 1950’s, men and women have pushed themselves to the summit — a place where virtually nothing can survive and birds cannot soar. Those who have tested themselves against the great mountain have been effected in profound ways. In 1996, one in seven people to reach the summit did not survive the descent. It has tested the accomplished and vanquished the ill-prepared.
What you may not know is that over sixty million years ago, Mount Everest was little more than a sand bar on the ocean floor. One day, pressure began to build underneath the sea floor. Underground plates began to push away from each other, which allowed molten rock to push upward through the resulting gaps. Over time, the rock formed a reef; a habitate for marine life — but God wasn’t satisfied with a reef. After several million years, the boiling, molten rock continued to push the reef upward until it broke the surface of the sea and formed what would have been a beautiful island — but God was not building an island.
Plates continued to pull, press, and tug deep within the earth. It was extremely violent as molten rock continued to push the Island upward and eventually formed a large beautiful hill, covered with flora and fauna. But God was not building a hill. He created additional turmoil under the plates to stimulate further growth. Over time, the beautiful hill had become a mountain. But God wasn’t building just any mountain, so He continued to work on His masterpiece. The mountain continued to grow until it reached the perfect height. When God had finished, He crowned the mountain with a beautiful blanket of snow.
God had taken a sandbar that could hardly be recognized at the bottom of the Ocean and over sixty million years, He molded it into the greatest mountain on the planet. We all face adversity over the course of a lifetime. What we may not realize is that adversity is often one of God’s greatest gifts.
I know, you’re asking yourself if this could possibly be a true story. The answer is “yes.” Underneath the white robe of snow, seashells can be found all across the summit of Mount Everest.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
Prayer:
Wonderous Father, we are amazed at your creation. It is difficult for our simple minds to understand the purpose of adversity. Ignore our simplistic prayers to relieve us of our burdens. Mold us in your image so that we may receive the crown you have prepared for us. In the name of Jesus,
-Amen
Ross
[...] Willingham presents Seashells On The Mountain posted at [...]
seashells on mountains tell me about the flood and I didnt no mountains came up from underground. Why do you think god made a mountain that big.
I’m not a geologist but as a Christian, I like to think about how adversity which God used to form mountains is not unlike the adversity we face each day — and how God can use adversity to mold us into stronger people and more faithful Christians. We grow stonger by overcoming adversity in our lives and in the end, we will have learned patience and wisdom.
You are right Ross. We don’t understand God’s ways but we trust his wisdom.
“One day, pressure began to build underneath the sea floor…” Was that day one, two, three or…? Likely, it was when: “all the springs of the great deep burst forth.” Gen. 8:11 If we trust God’s wisdom, then it’s good to trust what he says in his Word to us. After all, he went out of his way to make it perfectly clear:
“And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day” until “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in their vast array.” Scientific findings and conclusions change from year to year, God’s Word doesn’t. Yes, we can trust it.
I understand what you are saying — God created the heavens and the earth and then He rested. You are absolutely right about that. I also believe God is constantly molding and shaping His creation. There are seas where there were once no seas. There is dry land where once were seas. God continues to mold me in amazing ways and through amazing circumstances, which I would have never thought possible.
Two questions:
Isn’t 60 million years pretty far outside the Biblical timeline (I’ve read numerous calculations using references from the Bible; some simply adding the ages of each of the patriarchs, through Terah, to the various spans given for events while others seem to be a more accurate accounting [that is, Adam's sons weren't born the moment Adam died, therefore you can't just add their respective ages together] that account more for specific events) and so impossible? I won’t presume to understand His Creation or the manner in which He brought it about, but He tells us that He didn’t just poke bits of the ocean floor for millions of years; He wants a mountain, then there is a mountain.
Secondly, why does your prayer ask Him to ignore you? It’s a bit of a logical fallacy, isn’t it? Asking Him to ignore you, so to ignore you He must answer your prayer or He does not ignore you and so ignores your prayer to ignore you. God makes is clear to me that He will always listen to -and- answer our prayers. He may not always answer Yes, but he always answer. If you are praying for strength, He in His wisdom will see to it. It may be that He will add to your burdens, but is it not the man who works harder, strives harder, and stays with God who becomes stronger than the man who does little and shirks from the duties God places upon him?
Hmm, I think I asked more than a couple questions. Oops!
You have valid questions. While the geological story of the mountain is true, the point of the story is that God creates great things and sometimes great things are created thru trials we experience on earth.
Asking God to Ignore our requests is asking God to recognize we don’t experience His wisdom and that sometimes we don’t realize that when we ask for something, it may be contrary to what God’s best is for us.
Thank you for writing.
Dear Ross.
Millions if the pagan athiestic evolutionary view or origins is a prooven fact, which it is not. Interpreting scripture with man’s thinking is desasterist to the truth of scripture, let alone blasphemise!
Fred
Dear Fred,
Thank you for your comments. The Scripture was written for man’s thinking. It has been interpreted (and misinterpreted) for four thousand years, beginning with the law of Moses.
This story is simply an example of how something grand was created thru adversity. It is intended to demonstrate how, when we as Chrisitans face adversity, that God may be doing something fantastic in our lives, yet our wisdom is to short-sighted to understand the way that God works in our lives.
Thank you for your comment!
Ross