What’s Wrong with Looking Toward the Mountaintop?
It’s been a while since I had something to say. A while since I felt like I had something encouraging to say. Truth is, I’ve been the one needing the encouragement.
But today I was reminded of something as I opened by bible for the first time in a long time. Since I dusted off a devotion book I haven’t read in probably a year. And though the words in the bible and devotion book were different and unrelated, God’s message was loud and clear.
“Why do you keep looking for me on the mountain tops when I’m already here with you in the valley?”
Whoa, okay. Can I just rewind that for a moment and tell you about the fleece I put out for God yesterday in church? See, I’m in a tough spot in my life right now, and I’ve been asking God for direction, for BIG signs that he actually cares about me. For even just a simple glimpse into the future. But there hasn’t been any floodlights on my future. He’s just illuminated each little baby step. And honestly, sometimes that’s just not enough to keep going. So in church yesterday I asked for a big sign, but it didn’t come, and I thought, “figures!”
But this morning I picked up my bible and simply asked to hear from God. I really wasn’t prepared for what happened next. I opened to the EXACT scripture the pastor spoke on in church yesterday. What are the chances of THAT in a 2000 page book? And when I mean exact, I mean EXACT. At the very top of the page the story started on the exact scripture. I didn’t bring my bible to church yesterday, so there was no reason it should open here, or was there?
So I opened my heart up and read and listened. And nothing jumped out. No big surprise. I got a few good nuggets, but nothing big. So I switched gears and opened a devotion book to where I left off. I hadn’t read it in a while. This time God’s point was a little louder. The chapter was EXACTLY what I was dealing with yesterday. The title, “Losing What I Don’t Need” hit home on so many levels as I declutter this house and get rid of stuff I can’t take with me when we down size. It’s been an emotional process letting go of things that have been tied to hopes and dreams. But the devotion reminded me “everything I seek is already here, right inside me.” It’s okay to let go of stuff and to let go of dreams. And maybe I need to fully embrace that to make room for new stuff and dreams.
But that message wasn’t the big lesson in all of this. Remember what I felt God was saying to me?
“Why do you keep looking for me on the mountain tops when I’m already here with you in the valley?”
Well, before I “heard” this, I got a picture (yes, I’m a visual person) of a mountain and in the valley were yellow flowers. Lilies of the valley? I don’t know, but what I do know is while I was asking God for BIG things, for the Moses-type mountaintop experiences and signs, I was missing Him in the valley. In the tiny yellow flowers all around me. The little things that let me know He was walking beside me, like opening up to the exact scripture and story today I had heard yesterday in church, and having the next chapter in my devotion book be exactly what I had been dealing with all day yesterday (and frankly for the past year.) See, those are not mountaintop experiences, in my opinion. But they’re tiny blooms of God’s love. And they’re all around me as I walk this unknown path. They’re evidence that He’s not up on the mountain, distant and aloof like I’ve thought, but He’s right beside me, sprinkling my path with tiny yellow flowers, except I didn’t notice because I wan’t looking around me. I was looking up and focused on the wrong thing.
Do I still desire mountaintop experiences? Absolutely, but I don’t think that’s where most of us experience God. Even though we can’t see or feel him most of the time, He’s there. With us in the valley. And that’s the biggest lesson I learned today.
I need to quit looking up to the mountain to find God and look around in the valley. For there I will find Him! Walking right along side me, giving me signs, little flowers to brighten my path. And I believe if I do that, the journey might still be rough, but it will also be more beautiful.
Are you walking in the valley? If so, quit looking to the mountain and notice the things around you. What has he set in your path that you might have missed? I’d love to know and be encouraged!
