Valleys Greater Than Peaks

What if I told you the valleys were more important than the mountain tops?

Everyone wants to go from glory to glory, right? Who wouldn't want to spend all their time high upon the mountain tops? I know I would! The mountain top is why we spend long hours being obedient to God. We spend time in the prayer closet in his presence longing for the day we reach that glorious position. We cry out, “Oh God, bring me out of this valley. I need to be placed high upon a rock. Help me out of this troubling time.” Friends, I submit to you that the mountain top is meaningless without the valley. Without those long and dry times when we aren’t hearing the Father’s voice, how would we know how sweet those sounds are?

Psalms 23 say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quite waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” Let me tell you something, there isn’t any mountain I have seen with green pastures on top of it. There aren’t any quite waters running off a mountain. In fact, the waters running off a mountain are loud and fast. I believe God is speaking to me in this passage, I believe he is telling us we can be refreshed in the valley. He is telling us he will guide us along the right paths in the valleys of life. He is there for us all the time and we lack nothing, ever.

I have been praying Psalms 26:2 and I invite you to do the same. It says, “Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart.” Make sure you are ready for what happens when you let the Lord examine you. When you submit to having your heart examined, that is when everything outside of Jesus will begin to disappear. People that submit to this kind of life will be in a valley. They will ascend the mountain and then go back into the valley. They will begin a life of what the world has coined as “continuous improvement.” You see, people do not choose to live on mountains. People chose to live in valleys. Valleys have the most fertile land. They have the best bodies of water to transport goods. They provide the easiest way to travel on foot, or by other means. All civilizations begin in a valley. A land that is described in Deuteronomy 8:6-9.

James tells us to consider it a joy when we encounter a test of our faith in chapter 1 of his book. He also tells us that we are blessed and will receive the crown of life. The Apostle Paul even tells is to test ourselves in 2 Chronicles 13:5 and in other epistles he wrote you will find similar teachings. Anyone who is called to serve the Kingdom, born again believers are called to serve, will be tested. God wants to know the strength of your character. Paul says in Romans chapter 5, “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through his Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” We have hope that we will one day sit on the mountain top with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We do not walk through this valley alone. We have the glorious gift of Holy Spirit to guide us on how we should do it. For now, I am content with building my character and testing my faith in this valley called life. So, V>^