From the Mountains to the Valleys

I’m a mountain girl at heart. I was born in the mountains. Called the mountains home most of growing up years but we didn’t live there after I turned 5. However, daddy and mama kept the little farm house and we returned there for all of the big holidays. All of my family lived in the mountains. I guess the saying, “Home is where your family is.” is true. It wasn’t about the house. It was about the family.

The last few weeks have been filled with highs and lows, moments of joy and exhilaration and what seemed like long moments of sadness and melancholy. This past week, Lucy wrote a devotion, “Cry Out, Mourn, and Weep”. Just reading the title almost brought me to my knees. I was late reading the devotion but all day that day the line “when tears fall like rain” kept running through my head. Go back and read Lucy’s post from November the 9th. I know there are several old songs, that were written, possibly to mourn a lost friend or family member, that have the line “when tears fall like rain”. But that wasn’t the case for me. I was just sad. Standing there looking in the mirror with tears falling, wanting a pity party I guess, I couldn’t understand my tears. Life had been eventful, stressful, but nothing that seemed really worthy of tears. Then it hit me. Jesus wept… Jesus wept. Shortest verse in the Bible. John 11:35 says, “Jesus wept.”

As I stood there praying, the thought of Jesus weeping made me stop and think. Jesus had an extraordinary reason to weep. He was headed into the most difficult and sacrificial moment in history so that we could have the most joyful day of eternity. Here Jesus was heading into a valley of sorrow so that we could stand on a mountain of joy. If it was okay for Jesus to weep, then surely, I was not alone.

Life is filled with “Mountains” of gladness and joy, but, life also has “Valleys” of despair and sadness. Without one we would not recognize the other. Without the sunshine, we wouldn’t appreciate the rain. Without sadness, we would not know joy. Without mountains, we would not recognize the valleys. Regardless of where you are on the road of life, Jesus reminds us that it’s all part of His plan. We need to be thankful for all of the places that God puts us in. Thank you Lord for the mountains and valleys of life.