05 Mar THE HILLS AND VALLEYS

The Hills and Valleys

By: Dylan Ray

“I will lift my eyes to the hills. From whence my help comes from? My help comes from the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth.”Sit in church long enough and you’ll most likely hear something about hills and valleys, or being up on the mountain top or down in the valley. Why is that though? Mountains are used throughout Scripture as places of refuge. We have come to use the mountain top, or the hill as being in a place where everything is good. Life is great. Nothing could bring you down. You just got that big promotion. You just got that new car. The sickness was taken away. Everything is good in life.

Brother Larry during a testimony service on a Sunday night says, “God has been so good to me. I’ve been up on the mountain top, and He just continues to provide and bring me through.” Something about this statement tells me that there might be some time spent in the valley coming up for brother Larry.

In Pslams 121 David here seems to be in a valley. It is thought that David could have penned this psalm while in camp during a battle and was looking to God for his protection and to carry him through. David recognizes that the God of the mountains is still God in the valleys. In other words, the God of the good times is still God in the bad times. We have a bad habit of thinking God isn’t God in the bad times. We lose sight of who He is when things are hard. We only look to Him when we are up on that mountain top and everything is good in life. We will give Him all the credit for the good times, but when we fall on hard times we think we have to fight to get out by our own might. David here recognizes that God is God no matter where he may be in life, or what might be going on around him.We NEED the valley. We HAVE to spend time in the valley. Think about it…when you’re chasing elk around in the backcountry, where do you go for water? Where do you see the green growth? Where do you go with a snow storm rolling in? The valley! The same is true in our life. We have to have the time spent in the valley. That’s where the growth happens. When you get to the top of the mountain, there is no water, the vegetation is sparse or completely gone, and go high enough and you don’t even see the wild critters anymore either. Why? Because you can’t LIVE on the mountain top. Life can’t be sustained up there.

Growth takes place in the valley. Strength comes from being in the valley. Nourishment comes from being in the valley. Let God be God in the valley, through the hard times, just as He is God in the good times. You’ll come out of the valley stronger, healthier, and ready for the next mountain top!