October '04

Friend,


     May I encourage you with a lesson the Lord has been enlightening my mind with in recent months of illness? I hope so. It has meant a lot to me and I trust it will to you also. You probably already know this, but please be patient; I'm a slow learner, and also enjoy and benefit from sharing with others the lessons I am learning.


     I believe that all Christians have numerous times in their lives that we might refer to as "mountain top experiences." God has graced me with many such and I treasure each of them. But that is not where I live. Most of my days, most of my life, have been spent living in the valley, including "the valley of the shadow of death."


     The more glorious my times on the mountain, the less beautiful and glorious the valley seems. It is drab, commonplace, unpoetic, ordinary and sometimes lonely and painful. I speak from experience. I suspect that most humans, including believers, live in the valley. But here is the good news: that's where I am meant to live, where I have found my true worth to God and where my faithfulness has been tested. That's where He has preserved me, comforted me, and enlightened my understanding of Him and His ways.


     I was tempted to dislike "valley life" and to sometimes complain about it. When I realized that it was His life on Earth that was Jesus' valley experience, I began to see things differently. I could see God's glory on the mount, but I never lived for His glory there. I am where I am supposed to be, at least for this period of my life. It is here that I have learned to "give thanks in all things." It is in the valley that I have learned to really trust Him. It is here that I can praise Him and where He gets the glory for shinning through my "earthen vessel."


     Peter thought it would be a good thing to remain on the mount with the Lord, but Jesus took the disciples down into the valley of humiliation. That is where I am living these days. What about you? It is here that His strength is made perfect in my weakness. This is where "the God of all comfort" comforts me and where I have the opportunity of comforting others with the same comfort with which I have been comforted. Then there was that Old Testament saint who had his mountain top experience, but only after living in the valley for 80 years. There are many other examples in the Bible, but these few suffice.


     You may be able to testify of, and explain to others, justification and sanctification; can you - with me - resist feeling sorry for yourself, not be skeptical, and thank God that He is as real and present in the valley as on the mountain? There are a lot of other folk in the valley with us and we can - if we will - give a testimony to them of Him who "always leads us in triumph." That's what I'm attempting to do.


                                                        Alfred McCroskey