God is in This Story

One of my favorite t-shirts has a graphic on it that says “The God of the Mountains is the God of the Valleys”, which is a line from a worship song called “Graves into Gardens”. (Shout out to the Goods and Better Store, which is where I got the shirt. They are a great company that supports kids in foster care!) The other day as I was putting this shirt on, I gave some extra thought to how those words are such a great description of the past couple years in my life. I’ve experienced lots of valleys and many mountains, and God has definitely been here through all of it. Through the valleys of agoraphobia and cancer and the loss of my mom to the mountains of overcoming lifelong fears and being healed of illness and meeting my first grandchild, I’ve had some pretty high highs and low lows.

Recently I have found myself on some more level ground and in many ways, it has been surprising. With my high energy family, I don’t like to use the term “normal”, but I guess you could say that life has been more normal for us. We have plenty of ups and downs, to be sure, but the hills between them aren’t as steep. Its like we got off the super tall thrill ride with twists, turns and loops and got onto the kiddie roller coaster.

There have been times when I was afraid of things seeming too good because, in my anxious mind, the good would surely be followed by something bad. I couldn’t ever relax enough to just enjoy the level ground. I was afraid to feel joy because I was afraid of it being snatched away! Thank God that is no longer my story! I have spent so much time in the valleys and on the mountains that I’m not sure I ever learned to walk on level ground until now. And here’s the thing…even the level ground isn’t always easy to walk on! Just yesterday I was at South Haven beach in Michigan. We had traveled to Michigan to celebrate the adoption of my granddaughter, and I was filled with joy! The sand on that beach was level ground – neither a hill nor a valley – but it was a struggle to keep my footing. But it didn’t steal the joy of being in such a beautiful place with my family!

Psalm 23 in the Bible is a favorite of so many, including me. It is a Psalm of David that says “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 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.” The green pasture he makes us lie down in might very well be in the valley. And the still water he leads us beside could be a beautiful mountain lake. The paths of righteousness may be along a sandy beach or they may go right by the valley of the shadow of death. But He is with us!

Just like my shirt says, He is the God of the mountain and the God of the valley. And everything in between! His goodness and mercy follow us no matter where we are. I’m going to find joy on this kiddie roller coaster we’re on for now. We may very well find ourselves back on that big thrill ride again, but we will hold on tight and trust in the God of everything!