I Choose Joy in Low Places

Do the circumstances of your life sometimes make you feel like you are living in a valley, surrounded by mountains that you are unable to climb?  When everything around you seems to be falling apart, do you feel like those mountains that surround you might just begin to crumble and bury you there in the valley? 

I've been in that valley before.  I won't pretend to know what you are going through, and I won't pretend to know how you feel. Everyone's valley is different.  But I do know that you and I are never alone in our valleys.  God is with us, and He promises that He will never, ever leave us or forsake us.  Even in our valleys.  Sometimes He seems even nearer to us when we are in the valley -- He is always with us, but our awareness of Him and His presence can often seem more keen when we are in the valley.

Life on the mountain top is exhilarating.  There are beautiful views from the mountain top, and it's great to have those times in our lives when we think we couldn't get much higher -- times of great personal success, times of learning or wonderful adventures, times when our children or grandchildren were born.  But we can't live on the mountain top all the time.  If life were just about the mountain top experiences, we would soon be overwhelmed, and even those fabulous times would become routine, losing the special importance that we place on them.  God is with us on the mountain tops, and I believe He rejoices with us while we are there, but these times are rare and fleeting.
 

Thankfully, most of our lives are spent somewhere between the mountain tops and the valleys.  Somewhere on the slopes, the foothills where the terrain is gentle, ever changing, but without the perilous highs of the mountain crest and the frightening, deep lows of the canyons below.  God is with us there, too, but this is where, if we are not careful, we can become complacent, taking Him for granted or ignoring Him altogether.  It is here, in our everyday, routine lives that we tend to think we have it all under control and we don't even think about needing His help.  But in reality, this is when we need to spend the most time seeking Him and learning about Him.  This is our training ground.  It is here that we get in the habit of trusting God with every detail of our lives.  It is here that we learn to recognize that every blessing is from Him, and we learn to praise Him for each of those blessings.
 

Do you put your seat belt on when you get into your car, or do you wait to buckle up when you see someone speeding through a red light, heading toward your car?  Do you have to look up the number for the fire department if your house catches fire, or do you memorize "911" before you need to use it?  Shouldn't our government train an army before our country is attacked, or would an enemy just wait patiently for our military to go through six weeks, or more, of boot camp to prepare to fight that enemy?  So why should we wait until we are in our low places to learn about the One who will show us the way through the valley?  
 

Where are you today?  Are you calling out to God for His help?  No matter if you are on the mountain top, the foothills, or in the lowest valley, now is the time to call on Him.  He wants to meet you where you are, in whatever condition you are in.  He does not want to wait for you to get your life together before He joins you on your journey.  He wants to join you now, wherever you are.

If you are on a mountain top, I am happy for you.  Congratulations!  Invite God to celebrate with you.  Read the following verses and apply them to your life on the mountain top:

• My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high.  My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.  There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:1-2, New International Version) (Hannah's prayer after having a son, Samuel)
• And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.  (Nehemiah 12:43, New International Version)  (Israel praising God after completing the building of the new wall around Jerusalem)

If you are on the gentle slopes of life, I hope you will take this time to learn more about God and His love and care for you.  At some point, you will find yourself in the valley.  Allow God to train you now, before the hard times come, to trust in Him for everything.  Read the following from His word, and apply it to your life today:

• Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.  Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.  Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. (Psalm 105:2-4, New International Version)
• Woe to those who. . .rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.  (Isaiah 31:1, New International Version)

If you are in the valley, even in the lowest part of the valley, my prayers are with you.  But more importantly, GOD is with you.  He loves you and wants to comfort you, give you peace and joy, and lead you through and eventually out of the valley.  Read the following and allow God to comfort you, to guide you, and to give you joy, even while you are hurting: 

• The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?  (Psalm 27:1, New International Version)
• I remain confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13-14, New International Version)

 

Read all of Psalm 27.  If you are new to studying the Bible, a good place to start is in Psalms.  Begin by reading one Psalm every day.  Soon you will find that God has turned your dry desolate valley into one that is lush and beautiful, a place where there is life and growth and rivers of living water.

My prayer for you and for myself this week is taken from Psalm 139:1-3, 7-10, 23-24:  You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the (mountain top), you are there; if I make my bed in the depths (of the valley), you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.