Luke 24:38 - The Valleys of Life

Luke 24:38 “He said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?'”

The third week of this new year begins as it usually does – chilly, cold, and unremarkable. Our many fine New Year's resolutions are starting to weigh heavy on us as we struggle to keep them as time progresses and the memory and excitement of the newness of 2011 wears off. As each day passes, it becomes more of a struggle to wake up and go running, to avoid purchasing that extra little something, to have that bite of cake, to _________ [insert resolution here].  We start to doubt that we can do it, that we will succeed this year despite our failures of past years.

The freshness and newness of our walk with Christ also wears off. Those magnificent “mountain top” experiences where we felt Christ so close to us gradually fades into the distance as we begin to plod again in the valley. Slowly the fog of daily, earthly life closes in on us and shrouds the sight of those beautiful hills that we march onwards towards. We begin to doubt and worry again because it feels like it will take forever to get out of where we are now. If I may make reference to Tolkien's The Hobbit, we begin to feel a smidgen like that party of dwarves and hobbit as they plod through Murkwood Forest. They gave up and left the path with no more than a day's journey ahead of them to get out of the forest, and because of that they suffered and endured hardships which they could otherwise have ignored.

We too find ourselves frequently coming near to the point of giving up, and then if we push on just a bit further we encounter something that re-energizes us and gives us hope again. We encounter some tangible piece of God's plan for our lives.  It doesn't matter how low our self esteem may be at that point, we find ourselves reminded once again that God does not redeem junk or waste His time with things that don't matter.  At our lowest points we find some expression of this, that we are not junk and everything matters to Him!

I was speaking this past week with one of God's dearly beloved, a man with the thinning and graying hair of wisdom, completed and whole despite his infirmities, full of joy despite all that has gone on in His life. He said something I found to be rather profound about our daily walk with God.  He said: “God has a plan for your life, a good plan, a perfect plan for your life. No matter if it leads to the gas chambers or to limousines and lights, it is still the best possible way that your life could be lived, and the most fulfilling way to live.”  I could not even begin to imagine the ups and downs that this man has been through to make a statement like that in total peace. But it is very true! Despite the slow, doubting, painful walk in the valleys of the shadow of death; despite the exuberance and exhilaration of being at the peak and seeing the world spread out below, all growth really happens in the valleys and nothing grows on the mountain peaks – which seem to only be there to give us a better vision of what we are making our way towards.

This week, lets remind ourselves to persevere! It matters not what situations we find ourselves in in our life, God's using it for His glory and for our betterment. When doubts arise and troubles afflict us God is right there with us, reminding us with gentle words that He is still with us and encouraging us to put aside our doubt and troubled minds since He cares much more for us than for those little sparrows –  flying freely and happily without cares or worries – which He also cares for!  God is bigger than our fears, and His plan, wherever it leads, is  perfect and made just for us!