In "Other" Words

"We are not built for the mountains and the dawns and aesthetic affinities, those are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle."
~ Oswald Chamber~




Today’s In “Other” Words, is so appropriate for where I am at personally. God has been dealing with my heart, he’s been searching me, and knowing me, and he’s helping me to understand that he is with me, at all times, and my pain will soon pass.

Oh how I LOVE the mountain top experiences! Yet, I know that I cannot live there…..forever. We are on a journey, and God’s been speaking to my heart that each and every step of mine is ordered by him, and he’s leading me and guiding me to a place where my heart is SO in love with his, that my actions, my thoughts, my words and my deeds are his.

I’ve had many….many…many mountain top experiences and they’ve always left me feelings SO in awe of God. In my moments of awe, God has been showing me his greatness, his faithfulness, his love and mercy for and to me.

Yet, when I’m in the valley…when I’m in the trenches, that’s when my heart has to make a decision. Will I allow God to get at my *heart* issues? Will I allow God to break down the walls that I’ve built up to shut him out???? Will I be willing to be transparent, open and honest with the most Holy God??

The definition of Valley according to Webster is: a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river

How appropriate it that?? I’m finding that when I’m in the valley…when I am at my weakest, when I am at my lowest point, that is when God’s LIVING waters flood my soul and quench my thirst for Jesus. When I am at my weakest, Jesus is at his strongest, and his only desire is to make me in his image.

I have often compared the mountain top/valley experiences to going through the kiln.
Isaiah 43:2 says:
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

Our valley experiences are refining moments……if we allow God to shape and mold our lives. It’s not easy, it’s not painless, but it is most needed if our desire is to have the heart of our Father.

Some believe that if you have valley experiences or suffering, you must have sin in your life. That may be true to a point, but I believe that the valley experiences are designed to draw me closer to my Savior. For God’s more concerned about my HOLINESS, rather than my HAPPINESS!!

God will NOT lead you through the valley, without the mountain top to follow!! And God will not lead you, where his GRACE will not keep you!!

Elisabeth Elliot once said: “Sometimes life is so hard you can only do the next thing. Whatever that is, just do the next thing. God will meet you there!”