Friday, July 12, 2019

Balancing Life's Highs and Lows




By: Sarah Geringer

In your life right now, are you enjoying a mountain view or looking up from a valley? Maybe you are somewhere in between.

Our lives ebb between highs and lows every day. I am learning to trust God wherever I stand, whether on the mountain, in the middle, or low in the valley.

You can be standing on the mountain with one foot and the other down in a valley. I feel like this now. In my writing life, I'm enjoying a mountain view. In my personal life, I feel like I'm walking through a few hidden valleys.

In still other ways, you can be stuck in the middle. This can feel like a respite to you, or it might feel stale. Depending on your feelings, the middle can be a friend or foe.

I like meditating on this verse when I'm feeling high, low or in between. This beautiful verse predicted the future coming of Jesus:

Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
Isaiah 40:4 NIV


At Bible Study Fellowship this year, I learned that ancient armies would clear the land and smooth it out to prepare for the king's arrival. Like highway departments do today, they leveled the ground to make an easily traveled thoroughfare. This was especially important in the days before vehicles...can you imagine how uncomfortable the ride would have been without clearing and leveling?

The Holy Spirit did this work before Jesus came. He spoke through the prophets to announce the arrival of Jesus. The humble would be uplifted, and the proud would be brought low. The rough places would be redeemed as he entered his earthly ministry. Jesus would set everything right.

Now, 2,000 years later, we still need Jesus to even out our highs and lows. While I wash dishes and prepare supper, I listen to Lauren Daigle's song, O' Lord. It reminds me that someday, all things will be leveled out. She sings, "You take all that is wrong and make it right."

God gives us a heavenly perspective to even things. If you have flown in an airplane before and looked down on the ground, everything looks flatter. More even. Smaller. And to me, more precious.

I know that God sees everything in my life from a higher perspective, and he is in perfect control. Trusting in this truth helps me find comfort in the valleys, encouragement in the middle, and joy on the mountains.
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Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings and God's peace to you,





Photo from Canva.com



Reflection questions:




1. What part of your life has a mountain view right now? What part is like a valley?



2. Which view needs God's help the most? Which view inspires your praise to God?


3 comments:

  1. This is a great post, Sarah! We definitely need God's perspective on both our highs and our lows, and it is so encouraging to know that he is constant, whatever ups and downs we may face!

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  2. I needed to remember this today!

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  3. Right now, it feels like daily mountains and valleys in parenting littles!

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