Mountains and Valleys of Life

Thoughts for Cheri:

December 3, 2003 continued:

 “I cry so easily right now, yet I do still have that wonderful joy that comes only from the Lord.  That is the thing that I cling to right now.  It assures me of His continuing presence in my life each day and of His love, grace, and mercy, it is a strange feeling, this combination of sadness and joy, but I am so very grateful for the joy.  I also do have a sense of peace and assurance that all is going to be well even when my mind and feelings are trying to tell me otherwise.  I guess this is the hope He alone gives.”

“I can still function day to day even though sometimes I don’t want to.  I still do my job and take care of other responsibilities.  I still laugh and enjoy life.  I still care about and pray for others.  I still smile and try to encourage others.  Sometimes it amazes me that I am still functioning as well as I am.  Only God can do this!”

“I just wish I wasn’t so tired.  I just wish this heaviness would go away.  I have experienced time without it recently and I will keep praying, seeking, doing until I experience relief again.  I know I am in a valley and I can’t want for another mountaintop period.  I need it!”

I see His hand in every part of my life at this time.  I was struggling but I had joy.  I was blessed with the assurance of His continuing presence.  His love, grace, and mercy were real to me.  Peace and assurance that all is going to be well were gifts I didn’t deserve but I gladly accepted.  I had the hope He alone gives.  My takeaway from these words is “How Great is Our God”.  

“I can still function day to day even though sometimes I don’t want to.  I still do my job and take care of other responsibilities.  I still laugh and enjoy life.  I still care about and pray for others.  I still smile and try to encourage others.  Sometimes it amazes me that I am still functioning as well as I am.  Only God can do this!”  I really like the life these words portray.   Yes, there were days I didn’t want to crawl out of bed.  Yes there were days I woke up thinking, “Lord, I cannot be nice today.  I don’t feel nice, I feel angry and sad.  You be nice through me.”  Guess what?  He always did.  The fact is I sometimes have days like that still and there He is, working in and through my life.  The secret is surrender.  As I said, “Only God can do this!” 

“I just wish I wasn’t so tired.  I just wish this heaviness would go away.  I have experienced time without it recently and I will keep praying, seeking, doing until I experience relief again.  I know I am in a valley and I can’t want for another mountaintop period.  I need it!”  I see hope and faith in the word until.  I knew I was in the valley but I also knew God was preparing a mountaintop for me.  I was anticipating that day.  And it came.  It always does.  

Through It All

I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.

Chorus:
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I've been to lots of places,
I've seen a lot of faces,
there's been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own!

Chorus

I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in His word could do.

Father,

I do thank You for the mountains and the valleys.

Most of all I thank You for being with me each step of the way.

Because of Your faithfulness I do know what faith in Your word can do.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen