As I sat in church yesterday, I was reminded of the key differences of our mountaintop experiences an our valley experiences. This powerful sermon made me reflect on just how much I have grown in the word of God. My pastor made me remember that all of my times of growth and intimacy in God have occurred while I was in the valley. And while I was in the valleys in my life, these experiences were also equipping me for the mountaintops to come in this life. I was reminded of the many times that I had to pray and fast all day long because I didn't know what else to do with the hurts and pains that I was experiencing in life, at any given time. I was reminded that I had never prayed and called out to God more than I did when I was faced with tremendous trials and tribulations. In these "valley" times, when it literally took my breath away-literally taking all of me- to just stay afloat, without falling apart or losing my mind from what I was currently experiencing, I was reminded of just how important hope was to my mindset! The funny thing about this sermon was that I had just had this conversation (very similar) with an MA (Medical Assisting) class that I was teaching about a week ago. So to actually go to church and hear very closely related things from my pastor that I had just talked about with a completely different group of people was absolute confirmation from God of the importance of hope-and exercising hope while each of us are in our valley experiences. And once we reach the mountaintop, we can be so much more humbled and thankful for the hand of God in our lives, and the hope in times of trouble-that only He provides, in order to get us through the valley experiences.
I can honestly say that I never knew the true importance of hope, until I no longer had any. Hope came while I was hurting! And that same hope that was present while I was hurting, was also present when I was healing! It was hope that kept me when I felt helpless! It was hope that ushered me into wholeness, as a result of my hurting, and then my healing! I honor God today (and everyday) because He gave me hope when I felt hopeless! . He gave me hope to hold me together as I continued to look to Him for strength, while I was in the valley. He showed me how to make faith and hope a cornerstone, a gateway, to the mountaintop that I was trying to reach in this life. God made me realize that without hope, I would remain hopeless and helpless, and continually be in the "valley" of this life. And life is just too short to stay in a hopeless and helpless state. God has great things intended for all of us. He wants to take us from the valleys of life to the mountaintops of life! But we often keep ourselves trapped by choosing to remain hopeless and negative, in hurtful situations. Hope releases the power of the Holy Spirit in troubled times". (Joyce Meyer) So I want to encourage anybody to make the decision to cultivate an attitude of hope in your life today! (Joyce Meyer). He is waiting on you to become a prisoner of hope! "Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will render double unto thee". (Zechariah 9:12)
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