From the inside out
Subscribe to Ant's blog
JUNE 22: Of valleys, mountains and the roaring 40s
I have led Forest Town Church for 10 years now. It has been a journey of shooting the rapids, enjoying the calm waters and being led into the spacious places of God. There have been many things I have learned along the way, but here is one simple thing: our Father is both Lord of the valley and Lord of the mountain top.
This has become increasingly dear to me. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
A friend of mine recently said something that was profound. He said that he met Jesus at an early age, but only met himself when he turned 40. I identified so much with that. There are so many things that I have learned about myself in the last years that did not seem to be issues in my 20s and 30s. Since I turned 40 it has felt like I started to deal with things at a deeper level in my life. Things that you would imagine should have been dealt with, having celebrated the 40 year marker.
I have learned this about myself, that in my flesh I am not an optimist but a pessimist. In my flesh I am a person of the valley, rather than a man of the mountain tops! I am a person who sees the glass half empty and not half full. I have moments of "the black dog" that come upon me. These are the things that God has been challenging me on.
I have preached for years about Paul and Silas behind the bars, singing hymns at midnight in jail, singing freely out of a place of worship. This is a true picture, one that should inspire us all. I have often compared that to a "stoical" attitude towards life. A life of "keeping a stiff upper lip" in an exemplary "British way". This is negative, not ever celebrating great heights of joy and avoiding the pits of despair. I have tried to encourage people into faith and celebrating out of the same place as Paul and Silas. But, I have found that I am much more stoical that I thought. I am a survivor, I am one of those people like Dorey from finding Nemo that just keeps swimming. With some of the battles that I have been though in the last years, I have only become more stoical, rather than less stoical. This is not the way of faith!
As you read this and look into your own heart, what do you see? Are you a valley man, or a mountain woman, what are your strengths what are your weaknesses? Whatever you see, I want to encourage you that God brings us all out of the valley. God brings us all through the storm. Our boats come through the stormy waters and beach on the other side of the ocean. We then begin to explore the promised land that he has for us.
Maybe you feel like you have been in a valley of dry bones, like in Ezekiel's vision. God wants to bring you out of that place. He wants to breath life into those bones. There are other things that he wants you to leave behind in the valley. Some things need to remain dead!
There is the scripture that says that unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit. God is always sowing seed. There are seeds of zeal, seeds of thankfulness, seeds of desire to ask of him! He wants them to produce much fruit in you. Can you let the sword go through your heart and not deflect onto anyone else, or your circumstance?
I was praying with some friends. There was a powerful prophetic picture given as we prayed. It was of a bungee chord attached to a seed. The seed fell and it touched the ground, but then the chord pulled it back again before it could be rooted in the soil. When God speaks, don't let that happen. Let the seed come to your heart and let it die so that it can produce much fruit! This is the way that he leads us out of the valleys and puts our feet on solid ground.
Muchos
Ant