Hills & Valleys

Hills and valleys. High and lows…

I’ve felt led to post on this. I’m not sure why, but hopefully someone reads this and finds some peace.

This topic was the focus point during a sermon at church awhile back and then that week while I was doing Hannah Brencher’s bible study, First Be A Follower, the same concept came up again, and it really got me thinking.

Our sermon in church that day was about David and Goliath. One of the more well known stories in the Bible of David using a slingshot and a stone to defeat Goliath, a giant whom was terrorizing the Israelites. When David defeated Goliath he was on a high, people were looking to him and praising him. Well King Saul became jealous of David, and he attempted to kill David multiple times. David ends up taking refuge for many years in the Cave of Addulam- this was a low for David. However, here David prayed and leaned into the Lord a lot. It is said that this is where the Lord strengthened David and prepared him for what was coming next. This is a lesson to embrace and lean into your low places for transformation.

My bible study, in summary, was about how Jesus prayed on the mountain top and when he was up here it was peaceful and he looked more “magnificent”, but Jesus always came back down from the mountain into the chaos. Even though the mountain was more peaceful it was never intended for him to stay up there. He was to come back down and apply what he learned from prayer and time with the Lord on the mountain to everyday life… That time on the mountain is to prepare you for the harder times to come.

I think this is a great thing to remember in everyday life. There are going to be highs and lows in everything; your faith, relationship, parenting, friendships, career, etc.

The high points are easy to deal with, but I also believe it is important not to get caught up in that and think life will always be that way. To still be humble, think about and help others.

Our low points are a little harder to deal with, but I encourage you not to become discouraged! Lean on your faith, pray more, speak to the Lord. You’re going through this hard time, but it will make you stronger, and it will prepare you for harder times.

Think back to a really tough point in your life. Remember how you felt? Like you didn’t know how in the world you were going to survive or move past whatever it was? Well look at you now, surviving! It may not have been easy, it may have hurt like hell, but you got past it and you’re stronger for it!

For those of you going through a low point now. Embrace it. How did you end up in this place? What can you take from being in this place? How can you help others that may be end up in the same place? Is it possible you need to release control and lean on God and trust in Him at this moment? Maybe God is trying to use you. Try and learn from it and know that it won’t last forever. It’s easy to want to give up- don’t. I’m praying for you.