Uphill Both Ways

Posted by Barbara | 0 comments

As Christians, we aren’t supposed to like what has come to be called “the Valley experience”. Am I right? We are supposed to be striving for the mountain-top moments where we shine like a light for Christ, joyful, productive, happy, and showing the world how great our lives are. Right?

Well I agree. There is certainly nothing wrong with loving those parts of life. Certainly nothing wrong with celebrating the Lord’s goodness and providence in those moments where, even if everything is NOT right with the world, we are at least resting, trusting, and glorifying God with our lives, actions and attitudes.

But here is the thing: I think the valley is easier.

“What? No, it isn’t,” you say. “The valley hurts, the valley is dark and sad, and lonely, and sometimes it is the valley of the shadow of death. I don’t want that. I want to say, like Psalm 40, ‘He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.’ That’s what I want: not the valley”.

Let me explain: I have recently taken up “running” and I use that term loosely. My days of non-athleticism are blatantly obvious to those who knew me in my youth, and have followed me into the present day. However, I have managed to work myself up to being able to run between 5 and 8 kilometers without dying…I mean without stopping. Not too shabby for an English major like myself.

But here is what I learned the other day. I was out on a hillier route than I normally try and more than once I moaned and groaned and tried to psych myself up for the next upward stretch of the hill ahead of me. Downhill? Piece of cake. The flat stretch in the valley? Nice! Breezier, shadier, flatter…no problem. Then all of a sudden the hill is before me and I have to work really hard to do it. I mean, really hard. I have to run faster to get the momentum up to make the hill, which means I need to pump my arms faster, and pick my feet up higher. Now I’m sweatier, and hotter, and certainly fatiguing quicker. Plus, there is my lazy flesh to battle saying, “Good gravy, woman. Just walk already!” In fact the harder I work the worse it feels, physically and emotionally, and next thing you know I am really, really looking forward to slipping down the other side of the incline, if you get the picture. Sure, from the top of the hill I can see how far I’ve come, which is a nice sense of accomplishment. I can also see how close I am to home, which is encouraging. But it is so.much.work to get up the hill in the first place that the celebration at the top is hardly worth it.

Isn’t this true of our spiritual lives as well? It sure is on my part. What you need to know about me is that for all the outward “hard work and perseverance” that people think I have mastered, on the inside I am exceedingly lazy, weary, hard-to-motivate, and generally stuck in the mud. I would choose the valley over the mountain-top almost every time, despite the pain, just because it is easier to sit there suffering than it is to climb out.

The mountain-top moments are so good and refreshing and encouraging. But what did it take for you to get there? A whole lot of “dying to self” and “fighting the flesh”. A whole lot of choosing to keep moving forward, through the pain, through the fatigue, through the well-meaning-but-often-wrong encouragements of our friends to “take a rest and go easy” on our selves.

Think about it: are you in a “valley” right now? How did you get there? Is it a valley created by someone’s hurtful actions towards you? The way out of that valley and up to the mountain-top is choosing to be humble and loving enough to forgive them and extend grace to them, as far as it is appropriate for you to do so. That is hard work!

Is it a valley created by your own sin? The way out of that valley is humility and confession, repentance, and accountability with a sister in Christ who will keep you on track. That is hard work!

Is it a valley created by years and years of faithful service that has left you drained and weary? The way out is choosing to believe (no matter what it seems like!) that the Lord sees your obedient service and that he will reward you in due time (see Galatians 6:8-10 and Hebrews 6:10-12), over the lies in your head saying that you’ve done enough for others and you can spend the rest of your life resting on your laurels and serving yourself. Dying to self and loving others doesn’t always seem like much fun compared to soaking up a whole lot of “me time”. That is hard work!

What is your valley? How did you get there? What will you do to get out? It is hard work; there is no denying that. But the freedom and victory that you will experience once you have persevered through the hard work of climbing out of the pit will be worth it. I promise! And please hear me: I do fully believe that the Lord is sovereign, and that it is the Lord alone who can change our hearts and our circumstances as He sees fit. However, I do also firmly believe that, most times, the tool the Lord uses to lift us out of the valley is our wholehearted obedience to Him. Do you agree with that?

Lord, you know what valleys our lives have held in the past. You know what valley may lay before us this week, or this year. You alone can prepare our hearts to endure it. You alone can direct our hearts and stir our spirits into specific obedience out of it. You alone can set us on the journey out of the pit and onto your mountain-top of freedom and healing. Give us the courage and the faith to take those steps. And help us to enjoy the hard work of the upward climb.

Barbara Postma and her husband, as they homeschool their 7 children, are finding out that no two children are alike! Between lessons and lunches, Barbara blogs at Fuel by Barbara.