LIFE IN VALLEYS

"When they came to the crowd, a man came to Jesus and knelt down before him and said, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, he has attacks and is in great pain, and often falls into fire or water. '"(Matthew 17: 14-15)

We all have our experiences of being on top of the mountains of life, but we can not live on that alone. At the foot of each mountain there is usually a valley.

After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove, and God the Father said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). And immediately after that, the Bible tells us that He went to the desert, where it was tasted by the devil. Then to Jesus, after the dove came the devil. After the top of the mountain came the valley. After times of great blessing came times of attack, difficulty and even temptation.

Waiting at the foot of the mountain after the transfiguration of Jesus was a great challenge. A father brought his son, possessed of a demon, to Jesus. This man had tried everything. He did not know what to do. It had reached the point of despair.

The disciples did not know what to do either. They had been on the mountain with Jesus, but with that kind of thing they could not handle it. Then Jesus touched this boy and transformed him. The Bible tells us that "Jesus rebuked the devil, he left the child and from that moment on he was healed" (Matthew 17:18).

We can not live on top of the mountain forever. We have to go down into the valleys, and that is where the great lessons of life are learned. It is not necessarily higher mountain experiences that the Christian life needs; it is more of a daily obedience in which we are walking by faith, not by feelings.

One day Jesus will come to get us. There will be no more temptation nor sin waiting for us. We will finally reach the top of the mountain and we will never leave it.

Daily Devotions