A week ago I was having my worst day dealing with feelings of blueness and depression in the last 9 years of my life. Over the years I've had my battles with the darkness, but for a period of years I enjoyed brighter days and not near the struggle, so I was rattled to find myself battling some significant blueness. Knowing that a break from my regular habits and disciplines often helps in times like that, Cheryl and I planned a weekend away.
Friday afternoon we headed out to a cheap hotel in but not too close to the city. Dinner and movie, browse time in a bookstore, a good night's sleep, a great day at a great zoo, a swim in a pool later, a card game in a coffee house and by the time Saturday evening closed I was feeling quite better. But it was Sunday morning that was the turning point. Sometimes it is a great thing for a pastor simply to attend another church as a worshipper; to experience a Sunday with no responsibilities other than to meet with God.
Something in the worship service that morning spurred a thought that I found very comforting. I wrote it out in my journal.
"Mountain tops are a great place on which to stand, but little growth occurs there. Most real growth occurs in the valleys."
I've skied in the alpine regions of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific North West. Above the tree line, the views are spectacular, but there's not much that grows there, a lot of rock, a few sparse trees. But not much else. As you go the mountain, life teems everywhere. "Real growth occurs in the valleys."
I don't think anyone likes it when they are battling a period of blueness. Like most I love the mountaintop experiences of life. But on Sunday the Holy Spirit was reminding me that He was at work, in the valley. For this leader, it's what I needed to be reminded of. God is at work in the valley, real growth occurs there.
My God bless the valleys.
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