There is More to You
Lately, I find myself waiting for things to stop or at least slow down.
I keep looking for a break in pace.
And so far, I don’t see any hope of one coming.
But somehow, there’s still peace.
I keep on waiting for the terrain to level out. It feels like I’ve been going uphill for way longer than I knew I could. The summit has to be close, or at least the summit in sight. It has to be just around the bend. But I’m not sure I’m even above the tree line yet. It can’t be uphill forever. Or am I even on the mountain yet? Maybe this is a valley. Maybe the climb hasn’t even begun.
What are the treasures here? What are the treasures in the valleys? Where can I find them? If I feel this exhausted before even beginning to climb, how will I make it on the steep and narrow path to come? Yet, to all the days I thought I couldn’t go any further, here I am.
We were not made for the mountaintops.
“We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life - those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength.”
-Oswald Chambers
But maybe remembering those moments on the mountain tops will inspire another heavy step while in the valley or during the steep climb.
The treasures in the valleys are even more precious. They’re what you choose to notice and see as a treasure. They’re the ordinary that we choose to appreciate. Perhaps the things that have always been, but choose to see differently in this season. If we look for the treasures, even in the shadows of the valley, we will find them. The treasures are plain to see on the mountaintops. But the valleys train our eyes to search for beauty and reconsider what we choose to notice, appreciate and treasure. The valleys condition us to find the treasures no matter the terrain. If we allow Jesus to take residence in our hearts, He will reveal what we once saw to be mundane, to be a true treasure.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:34
Whether or not the summit is near or the pace changes, what if the rest could be found between each step, whether valley or steep incline? Right in the midst of the exhaustion. Maybe this is the sweet spot to Jesus’ power, when we recognize our need for Him.
“For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Romans 9:17
Maybe this part is intended to teach us that by the power of the Holy Spirit, with each exhale, there is more in us and more to us. Only through this discomfort can the new dimensions of who were becoming emerge. Or maybe it’s cleaning out the filth stuck in the nooks and crannies of who we once were in the way of who we’re becoming.
There is a storehouse of strength that we can always draw from with Jesus. With Him, we can keep going when we never thought we could. We will find that whether steep incline, rocky valley or the ease of a summit, Jesus will fuel every breath. May we lean so heavily on the strength of our Savior that each breath matches His. May His breath be the breath in our lungs, putting what makes sense and mere human strength to shame.
“But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
“The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.”
Deuteronomy 33:25
In the valleys we only see in part. The moments on the mountain tops reveal the bigger picture of the valleys navigated and mountains climbed. It shows just how far you’ve come. It shows the mountains you learned to climb, and all the ranges ahead you will soon learn to climb.
It reveals what it took to get where you’re standing now.
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
1 Corinthians 13:12
Look how far you’ve come. And look how far you will go.
Look who you’ve become and who you’re becoming.
The same God with you on the mountain tops is with you in the narrows and shadows of the valleys and steepest climbs. You will find with each step you thought you couldn’t take, there is still more in you and to you.
Lean on our Savior, He’s right there with you.
“Share the story of the mountain you climbed, it could become a page in someone else's survival guide” - Morgan Harper Nichols
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” Ephesians 3:20