Life is about mountains and valleys. God shows us illustrations of this in the Bible. The mountains are the high points, the valleys are the obstacles.
The valley is the place that our faith is put to the test.
1 Peter 1:6-7New International Version (NIV) tells us this:
6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Just search the Bible. You will find so many stories about being in the valley : Israel spent time in the valley, as well as Martha, Mary and the greatest prophets. How much more are we likely to spend time in the valley? As much as we would like too, we can’t live at the mountain top ….not yet. But we will.
Psalm 30:5New International Version (NIV) says this:
5 …weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
My life has been full of mountains and valleys. I have spent the last two years climbing that mountain with my eyes focused on God. I get almost to the top and my foot slips on a rock, causing me to slide back into the valley. I spend a little time wandering around in the valley, looking at God- then I see His hand outstretched to me, showing me the way back up. So, I start climbing again. I used to live in the valley, now I only spend a few days here. As I start climbing, smaller pebbles pass me by. My footing was stronger this time and they didn’t cause me to slip back into the valley. But, where there are smaller pebbles, there will be larger rocks. They make me loose my footing and I fall into the valley again. The larger the rock, the harder the fall. Sometimes, it’s a smaller rock that feels like a boulder when it hits you. The thing is, no matter the size of the rock that knocked you back down into the valley, God is still God in that valley and the same God that is waiting at the top of that mountain for YOU and ME. His outstretched hand comes in so many forms. You just have to be looking for it. It may be in the form of a warm hug, someone telling you how special you are to them, or, it may be in the form of someone telling you of their near death experience, and how they saw Jesus….at a time when you needed to hear it the most.
God awaits us at the mountain top.
Psalm 121(NIV) tells us this:
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
I used to live there, now I only hang out for a few days and I look back up and start climbing that mountain AGAIN. As with any repeated efforts, the next time I climb…I am stronger. One day I will live there….on the mountain top with Jesus, never to fall into the valley again.