“Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

I was confused recently when I read two different devotional books back to back on the same day.  The first one was titled, The Way Up is Down. The subject matter related to the topic of humility. It concluded with the following statement: “You’ll find that the best way to go up is to reach down to others.” The second focused on prejudice and proclaimed, “Looking up to Jesus prevents us from looking down on others.”  Without much thought, I laughed at the perceived inconsistency and asked the easy question: “So is it up, or is it down?”  It appeared as though these two devotions offered up a contradiction. On closer examination, I am convinced that the messages actually supported each other.

Our lives, likewise, are full of ups and downs. We often describe them as being on an upswing or a downswing. This has come to be reinforced by the way that our culture defines the ebbs and tides of everything about us.  If we are an investor, we are happy when the market is up and tend to find it worrisome when it is on a downtrend. It’s not unusual to base our purchases or entertainment selections on whether others have specified a thumb up or down rating for the product.  Additionally, we become obsessed with the lifestyle of the upscale of society and pay little, if any, attention to the downtrodden. There’s an old story about a man who jumped out of an airplane only to discover that his parachute was jammed. As the wind rushed by him, he took it off and desperately tried to untangle it. Suddenly a man shot past him, flying upward at tremendous rate of speed. The man with the chute looked up and yelled, “Hey, do you know anything about parachutes?” The other man called down, “No. Do you know anything about gas stoves?”  I guess it’s all in our perspective.

When it comes right down to it, we spend more of our life in the valley or going up and down the mountain than we actually do on the mountaintop itself. Whenever we fail to accept that ‘down times’ are a natural part of life, many will attempt to correct their station in life by creating a world of excess. This can range anywhere from substance abuse to buying sprees, searching for anything or any way to make them feel better. The absence of a spiritual connection can result in attempting to climb the mountain with an accumulation of material wealth becoming overwhelmed with emptiness, dissatisfaction, and a need for change. Evangelist and author Rick Warren has stated it this way – “Transformation is a process, and as life happens, there are tons of ups and downs. It’s a journey of discovery – there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.” Therefore, it is important to acknowledge to ourselves that, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). But be assured that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

I suspect that the most powerful parts of our lives are lived in the valley rather than on the mountaintop. The valleys are where we do our struggling. In Psalm 23:4, David shows his understanding that every valley had a shepherd who would go before the flock leading the sheep to safe passage. Whether we’re in the depths of the valley, sinking into it, or trying to climb up the slopes – each season should motivate us to trust the Lord, our Shepherd, and seek His direction. Being in the valleys of life is never easy, but the challenges in those valleys strengthen who we are and gives us hope for a future.  Paul said “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). We will do a disservice to ourselves and others if we portray the Christian life only as a mountaintop experience.  It’s much more like the ups and downs of a roller coaster.  However, we can be sure the Lord is in the seat beside us and that we are never riding alone.

REFLECTION: Where do you spend most of your life, on the mountain or in the valley?  In what ways has God sustained you and help you to be a stronger person through your ‘valley’ times? What would you say to a new believer who is having difficulty facing the difficulties of life?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., MARCH 18, 2017.  COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.