God Speaks in the Valleys

     Here is the lovely view from my front porch.

     It's called Ludden Mountain and it has a secret:  there are two American flags up there, one on each peak. No one knows how or why they got there. There are no hiking trails, just rugged terrain and a steep climb. I can't imagine what it took to get those flags to the top and standing strong--strong enough to withstand our powerful dust storms.

     You can see the flags on a very clear day only if you know where to look. Binoculars or the zoom on a camera help. The mystery intrigues me. Who? When? Why? Most of all, how?

     This is a small mountain, nothing like the rugged peaks and valleys of Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, or Canada. But, it's my mountain. I appreciate it every day whether I'm on the porch, biking through the neighborhood, or driving into the subdivision. I enjoy it in the extreme summer heat, in the pleasant winter months, and especially during the rare desert thunderstorms. I really like my mountain.

     Mountains and valleys pretty accurately describe life for all of us. When all is well in our lives, we love being on the peak, feeling like we can conquer the world. Inevitably we descend into a valley of some sorts caused by, well, everything from health to relationships to...whatever. It's life and it's common to everyone.

Here are a few quotes from one of my favorite authors, Oswald Chambers:

"We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle."

"The mount is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something."

"...but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God."

                                   (from My Utmost for his Highest, Oswald Chambers, Discovery House Publishers)

Here's a suggestion

     Find some graph paper (the old-fashioned kind from 5th grade math) and chart your life events. Put some sort of scale along the side, and along the bottom list important memories from the time you were very young to the present. Put dots in appropriate places, indicating the level of sadness or happiness of each event. When you're done, connect the dots and you should have a mountain range on your paper. It's interesting what we remember--incidents might seem inconsequential but if you remember them, they're obviously important. Take a look at your mountain range and ask if it reflects your life accurately.

     Now, take a different color pen and map out your faithwalk, your closeness to God. Superimpose this over your life events. You'll have times when you were close to God or far away from God or maybe even questioning his existence. You should now have two mountain ranges, one on top of the other.
What do you see? When I first did this I discovered, not surprisingly, I was closest to God in the valleys of my life--the times that were the toughest. (See blog post from September 28, "The Mighty Saguaro" http://sueraatjes.blogspot.com/2014_09_01_archive.html) Isn't that amazing and uplifting? The surprising revelation for me was that I was farthest away from God while a student at a Christian college. Go figure.

     Now for a third line. Make a thick red line running straight through your two overlapping mountain ranges. Yep. That's God's love and direction in your life. He's always there, always has been, and always will be. Whether we're on mountaintops or valleys the steadfast love of God is ever-present and available.

"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." (Isaiah 26: 4)

     For each of you, my readers, I pray your mountaintops are more prevalent than your valleys. In your valleys, may you feel God's presence, strength, and love.

You can put the crayons away now!

 

     Oh, and that mystery on my mountain? I think it's best left unsolved. I've formulated many stories in my head about how and why those flags are up there. Finding out the true scoop would spoil the fun.

(Notice the sidebar for Bible Study Resources to the right. I will continue to add links to various sites to help you in your study of the scriptures.)