On the Mountain Top and In the Valley

     A picture remains in my mind of the beauty of Washington State that we experienced on several visits.  The mountains of granduer are of the most memorable.  Their beauty ever surpassing the surroundings that encircle them as they jut up out of the earth reaching and tapering as they go toward the skies, as though they are praising their maker with all of their might! They seem to sing of the majesty of God and the Glory that He so deserves.  They have a mighty power that speaks of His power and they have a ever so breathtaking (literally if you are at a certain altitude) strength that you feel as though you could actually see God in all of His presence. 
     I compare this to the experience of a mountaintop in our spiritual lives... where we can do nothing but sing His praises, cry out in adoration, and bask in the wonderful presence of His strength and power.  Lord God... how we love these times of being in Your supreme will and supreme grace... as we glorify in your Holy Spirit as it fills us with its beauty and purity!  We can get no closer to you than at these moments of grandeur! 

     However...

As we find in the mountains of God and also in our spiritual lives, we cannot remain in this state.  The road will inevitably begin to taper downward into a different area not seen so much when we are on the mountain top.  The valley of the land or the valley of the soul.  It is not so breathtaking as the mountain.  It is darker, it is quieter, and it is sometimes very sad in a valley!  I remember being alone one evening and driving through the valleys in Ellensburg, Washington along the river and the mountains that towered above where on both sides.  It seemed still somewhat granduer down there but there where many shadows.  As I approached a curve in the road sun broke thru a mountain crevice and the shadows did a bit of twisting and revealed a beautiful sunset.  It had been hidding behind the mountains and could just be seen.  There was also a orchard filled with apples that were ripe for picking as it was the month of September.  Comparing this to our spiritual realm, I realize that this to is true in our lives as we face the valleys.  Fruit can grow abundantly when we are feeling the shadows of life that surround and that

afflict us.  But if we allow it to, it is here that the fruit of God can trully grow in us.  Mountains do not bring forth fruit but the valleys do!  Lord Jesus, help me to seize this opportunity in the valleys of life!