During Jesus’ ministry, important things happened on the mountain and in the valley.

Up on the mountain, Jesus encountered Moses and Elijah. He gave the Sermon on the Mount, for which he drew disciples to his feet. He prayed on the mountaintop.

Down in the valleys, Jesus met with people. He met people’s pain and suffering. He prayed with people. He himself wept. He performed miracles.

You know what that tells me? Important things happen on the mountains and in the valleys; important things happen in the highs and lows of life, and I need to be fully present for both because Jesus will meet in both places.

When life is going well and I feel like I’m receiving blessing upon blessing upon blessing, it’s easy to ride on that. It’s easy to coast on it because it feels wonderful and worry-less. Reveling in the joy is important. God has created us for abundance and joy, and he meets us in that joy every time. I also think it’s important to do two things: pay attention to what it looks like on that mountaintop, and soak up aaaalllll the joy so that some of it is saved for later, kind of like a solar light that lights up in the dark because of the stored energy.

Paying attention to what it looks like on that mountaintop is important because we’ll need that picture when we hit the valley. We’ll need to remember what the fresh air feels like when we’re suffocating. We’ll need to remember what joy feels like when the low threatens to wash it all away.

And soaking it all up is important, too, because there is always something to be learned. Sometimes we imagine that lessons only come in the pain, but lessons come in the joy, too. Children learn best through play because it’s FUN. Those lessons are learned so well because they’re FUN. We can learn in the joy. In fact, neuroscience tells us that when fun and laughter are incorporated into an experience, the experience sticks with us much longer and in a much bigger way. The brain holds on to joy in significant, impactful ways.

If you do those things while you’re on the mountaintop, what do we do in the valley?

We cling to the hope and the joy and the wonder we had on the mountaintop. We remember that life is made of both and one doesn’t cancel the other out. We remember that Jesus met us on the mountaintop and he’ll meet us again in the valley, every time. There might be pain now, but healing will come. There might be darkness now, but light will come. There might be frustration and brokenness now, but wholeness will come. We might be in a valley now, but we’ll be on a mountaintop once again, someday.

I encourage you to walk in the valley, gather what you can. Use that stored joy and hope and wonder to fuel the walk. Lean into the angels in your life, lean in to the ultimate redeemer and restorer (John 11:25).

May your valleys lead to mountaintops,
and may both bring you to a deeper, fuller
understanding of all God has created you to be.

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