I looked to the hills and remembered God’s help for every generation

By Dean Collins

You can’t help but look up to see the peaks when you’re traveling through the mountains. Even with our unhealthy addiction to our phones and tablets, when you are in the mountains it’s almost like a force of nature draws you to look up at the majesty of the high points above you.

I drove to the hills

A few weeks ago I drove to the hills of Eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina not so much to look to the hills as to discover some family roots. My father came from the hills of East Tennessee. I spent a day wandering around a spot on the map called Vardy that is just below Newmans Ridge. I also drove to Mulberry gap. These spots are so remote that the navigation system in the car shows nothing and for good reason. There is nothing. I didn't see a store that sells anything, although I did find the building where my grandfather had a general store before he died in 1932. Obviously, I didn't know him. My dad knew him for only a few years. My grandfather died when my dad was 10.

My grandfather and the generations before him all came from these hills that captured my eyes and my mind. My great-great-grandmother, who died in 1898, was born in these hills in 1824. On the day of my visit, I was able to visit the house my uncles had moved from the ridge and restored below on level ground. My great-great-grandmother’s cabin is on the national historical registry.

I met a few second cousins that day who all originate from these same hills. I learned that many of them come once a year to my grandmother’s cabin to spend the day. It’s become an annual ritual. Presbyterian missionaries came to this area and established a school and a church for my ancestors. The church is now a museum. The school is no longer there. All that is left are the hills, my great-great-grandmother’s cabin, the old church, and a few houses spread over the valley.

I learned about my great-great-grandmother

While I was there I read a handwritten obituary someone wrote about my great-great-grandmother. She was a legendary moonshiner who had somewhere between 16 and 20 children. I always heard 19. The obituary said that in her last days from her bed she confessed Christ as her Savior and Lord. She told the author of the obituary that she would see them in Heaven. Apparently, she discovered that her help came from the Lord and not just the hills she had relied on all of her life.

The hills had helped her over the course of her life, but eventually the law caught up with her and she was arrested. She was a large woman, and it was too much trouble to get her out of the house and down to the valley, so she was placed on house arrest. I saw a picture of the deputy who finally caught her. I guess you could say the hills had been helpful, but somehow, sometime, someone brought the truth of the gospel to her and she looked to the Maker of the hills for her ultimate help.

I received my grandfather’s Bible

One of my uncles gave me my grandfather’s Bible a few years ago. It is worn out from age but it also looked like it had been well used. I don’t know who used it, but my uncle told me that my grandfather read it. Apparently he also looked to the hills and discovered that his help comes from the Lord.

I spent a lot of time looking at the hills that day. You have to drive on extremely winding, narrow roads even to get to my ancestors’ home. I had a lot of questions that day and not many answers. Most of the answers will not come until I meet some of my relatives in Heaven. We will have that long conversation because we all did what the psalmist said he did; he looked to the hills and realized that his help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

I remembered the source of my best help

Looking to God for our help results in deep and abiding security. The Lord doesn’t sleep while we are in trouble. He is our creator, our defender, our keeper, our sure footing. He will keep us from evil and keep us all of our life. He will keep us as we come and go through life. But we must do what my ancestors did and what the psalmist did centuries before: Look to the hills and discover that our help, real help, eternal help comes from the Lord.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭121:1-8‬ ‭ESV

Photo by Wes Hicks at unsplash.com 

To receive daily posts delivered directly to your inbox, complete the form at the bottom of our home page.
To download a printable version of today’s post, click here.