Saturday, March 22, 2014

Mountains and Valleys

Mountains and Valleys

Mountains and valleys have come up in Scripture quite often in my devotions and readings over the past few months.  We traveled through them on our trip to Florida, but we do not have any in the area where we live.  My husband is originally from an area that is mountainous, and I have enjoyed traveling there in the Fall, with the slopes covered in oranges, reds, and yellows.  I have one particular memory where I was there in the winter and my station wagon struggled to get up a hillside.

I have never climbed a mountain, but I have climbed steep hills.  On the way up you lean forward, maybe grabbing the earth for support, your legs pushing the weight of you forward and up.  You exert yourself, taking deep breaths.  Once you get to the top you can look around and see more.  You can see what you have overcome and accomplished.  You can also see the valley.  This valley is nourished by the rain water that has washed down the side of the mountain and it has caused growth of various lush vegetation.

If the land was flat perhaps the journey would be easier.  But, because the mountain nourishes the valley; when the mountain is climbed, growth, perspective, and change occur.  The mountain and valley work together and it is good.  The mountain is a way out of the valley, even if the climb is difficult.  If I tried to take a short cut going through the mountain, the required journey won't take place and growth might not happen as it should.  The mountain is necessary to the journey.  It provides that essential water, nourishment, and growth.

There are mountains and valleys of life, of emotions, of relationships, of health, of days.  My husband's journey with cancer has certainly been filled with mountains and valleys.  My husband, myself, and our son are climbing this difficult mountain, but we can look back and see that it is good; that God provides what we need in order to grow; He nourishes us.

Reflection Verses:

Psalm 104 (NIV)
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
    he stretches out the heavens like a tent
    and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
    and rides on the wings of the wind.
He makes winds his messengers,
    flames of fire his servants.
He set the earth on its foundations;
    it can never be moved.
You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.
10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate—
    bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
    oil to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,
    and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
    and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
    and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go out to their work,
    to their labor until evening.
24 How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord.

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