Where do you want to live; the Mountain, the Desert or the Valley?

People are always trying to get to the mountaintop like it is the place you really want to live at or to be. Have you ever been to an actual mountaintop?There are usually no trees and if there are, they about two feet tall. Not much grows on mountaintops. The air is thin which makes it hard to breathe. A mountain top is a place to get a view of what the valleys look like.

The valley is where the growth happens, lots of water, good soil and flat land. We will spend most of our time growing in valleys. But in the valley are shadows and other people and weeds and wild animals and you have to work really hard at maintaining your growth. Psalms 23:4

A mountaintop is the place to see how the growth is going and to get the lay of the land. You can see the trees, the open spots, the water, the deserted places and survey to best locations for growth.

It is still good to climb up the mountain and see how it is going. It gets you closer to the reason you are doing all of this. The beauty of the growth. The beauty can best be seen from the mountain top.

Matthew 4:1, Mark 1:12, Luke 4:1, Matthew 14:23, MArk 6:46, Luke 6:12 and John 6:15 Matthew 5:1, Mark 3:13, John 6:3 all show how Jesus would go away to mountaintops and other desolate places to pray and to teach others what he wanted them to know. Time spent in the Father’s embrace, being his child helps us with the pain of the valleys shadows and people and weeds and wild animals. Those are what cause us fear.

What about the desert? Jesus would get away to a desolate deserted location to pray and spend time with his father and to go through times of temptation.

Deserts are important for us too because they have no growth either. There is no water, no sustenance and we are at the bottom of the growth chain. Deserts help us keep our perspective about our needs; our need for people, growth, beauty and abundance.  We can be tempted by the mirage of abundance and like Jesus endure times of faith testing.

Sitting in our Father’s embrace during a time of crisis or lack is important and cannot be avoided. Remember that God will not leave us in the desert any more than He will let us linger in the mountaintop. He will bring us back to the valley to use that renewed interest in growth for our good.

There are dangers in every area, the mountaintop, valleys and the desert.

We go the lows and the highs to gain perspective and renew our determination and confidence in our Father and gain understanding about His plan for us. We spend time in His embrace and we experience His love and his healing. There is suffering and loneliness on the mountain top and in the desert.

In 1Kings 19:4 we see that Elijah thought that he alone was left to serve God and God revealed to him that he was not alone. In that desert,  to which he ran after a time of incredible success and glory on the mountain, next to a very small water source he was renewed, received God’s ministering care and sustenance. Elijah was wanting to die under the weight of growth and glory and danger from his enemies. God didn’t yell or throw his weight around with anger at Elijah’s despondency and depression. He spoke in a still small voice and held Elijah in his embrace. He guided him to a cave where he could rest.

It is important to get away and get perspective and spend time in prayer and reflection. In our Father’s embrace we cry out with our pain and our frustration after enduring times of pain and suffering while we grow because growth is not easy. But remember too that being freed from fear is done by conquering the shadows and the other dangers of the valley.

Philippians, Colossians, and other places Paul explains how to handle the weight of suffering in this world. He says to expect hardship, persecution, loss and death. Jesus himself said we would have trials, trouble, tribulations. But he also prayed that God would, not take us out of them, but see us through them. Then he went to the Garden of Gethsemane, the trial and beatings, the cross and then the grave only to rise triumphantly over death, hell and the grave; teaching us that when all seems lost, all is not lost!

We have to face challenges head on and work out our growth in the valley. Then occasionally we withdraw to the mountaintop the survey the beauty of what God is doing in our lives. Or we withdraw to the desert to be reminded of the abundance we have in the valley.

Don’t get me wrong, we pray in valleys and the gardens too. Everything and at every time, whether it is a time of abundance, desolation, growth, fear, temptation, wisdom, we pray and seek God and his love, forgiveness, grace and mercy for our lives and we give out God’s grace and mercy, love and forgiveness to others.