Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5–6)
Roughly two years ago, God told me that I was about to go through a great high and a great low. I assumed that the valley, or the great low, would follow the mountain. That seems to be the way it usually works: The high, whatever it happens to be, brings you up, and then the low brings you crashing down. I was expecting my valley to be on the other side of my mountain.
But it wasn't. For two years, I endured a dark night of the spirit. It's a long, lonely valley that can easily — very easily — sweep a child of God into depression or spiritual suicide. Only within the last few months has the path begun to slope upward once again.
I now can see a light on the other side. I am experiencing more hope than I have in quite a while. As uncertain and unclear as the path sometimes seems, it is beginning to feel firmer beneath my feet. God is bringing me out of the valley, at last. My head is clearing as He shines the light of His favor upon me once again. Though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I don't live there — praise God! The same is true for you.
Get Off the Rollercoaster!
I have learned that the height of the mountain is in direct proportion to the depth of the valley. In other words, the depth of your valley reveals the coming height of your destiny. Most of us are familiar with what's traditionally called the "ebb and flow" of God's Spirit. We have highs and we have lows. We have times when we feel immune to the dark and times we feel like God must hate us. We will tend to think the latter if we aren't firmly rooted in a deep, abiding familiarity with our Father's love for us. The lows will shake us to our very core, and if we are not rooted in Him, we will be swept away, at least for a time.
As we experience these highs and lows, the ebb and the flow, how we see our circumstances is vital. If we don't see them as Heaven sees them, we will find ourselves in the midst of what I call Rollercoaster Christianity. It leads people to giving up, because it is easier to handle high highs, but we self-destruct when the lows are so low. If we are focused on the experience alone, our emotions will tend to rule us, especially in those low moments.
Every Mountain has a Valley
Taking it one step further, having low moments does not mean God is angry with us. If we assume that we're experiencing a low because God is displeased, we are swallowing the enemy's hook and allowing him to lead us wherever he wants us to go. If there is sin in our life, that's one thing; however, not every low happens because of sin. We will not be able to remain on top of the mountain forever — that's just the way it is. No matter who we are, we will face disappointments, hard times and struggles.
But in the midst of these, if we can remember that God is God of the Valley just as much as He is God of the Mountain, the valleys won't seem as long. If our eyes are fixed on Jesus, we won't notice the dark as much. It's hard to see the dark when you are staring at the Light. It has a way of blinding you to everything else.
To hear more information on this topic and watch "Storm, Faith and the Miraculous" go to AWE WebTV
STREAMS MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL by John Paul Jackson © 2007. All rights reserved. (Please include this line to forward the message).
No comments:
Post a Comment