Not everyday can be a mountain top

Nobody wants to go through the valley, but we all want the mountain top experience.  I have heard this sentiment from a few people over the past months.  On Sunday mornings we have been talking about following Jesus and what that means for us that claim Him as Lord and Savior.  There are days where we feel like we are going through the valley and others where we are on the mountain top.

Not every day can be a mountain top experience, but on the other hand not every day is the deepest corner of the valley either.  Following Jesus in our life can be a journey, mountain tops and valleys can be experienced any given day depending on the circumstance and how we respond.  The reminder that we need to have is that God is with us every step of the way on our journey through the mountains and the valleys.

I have been thinking about Elijah again and his experiences with mountain tops and valleys in 1 Kings 18-19.  Elijah sees God move by accepting His offering in front of the priests of Baal and King Ahab, Elijah prays for rain after a long drought then runs faster than Ahab’s chariot.  Surely seeing God move in these miraculous ways is a blessing to Elijah, but shortly after this mountain top experience Ahab kills the prophets of God.  Elijah is distraught and finds himself in the desert wanting to die.

God meets him in the valley of the shadow of death.  Elijah is comforted by God, given food and drink, allowed to rest, and God speaks to him.  God says just the right words to encourage him revealing His plan to redeem Israel through a faithful remnant.  On the Mountain tops we see God move, but in the valleys God causes us to grow in faith in Him.

Psalm 23 reminds us to trust God in the valleys of life.  Verse 4 says:

4 Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

God has called us to follow Him in all things, if you are in the valley know that He is with you.  If you are on the mountain top share it with others by telling the story of how God is moving, write it down so that you can remember God’s faithfulness when you go into the next valley.

It is easy to believe God on the mountain tops and those experiences give us strength to face the next valley, where everything is trying to kill us and our faith.  Remember that God is with us in the valley and the next mountain top is just up the hill.  Trust that He will lead you to the next mountain top and He is with you even in the valley.