Don’t shirk your responsibilities…
A quote from yesterday’s Streams in the Desert, “No one can stay on the mountaintop of favor forever, for there are responsibilities in the valley. Christ fulfilled His life’s work not in the glory but in the valley, and it was there He was truly and completely the Messiah.”
When we’re going about every day life and the road is smooth, no detours, no flashing signs to warn us what’s ahead, “life is good.” But when we suddenly find ourselves in a deep valley, we often panic. We want to buck the system, fight the circumstances, lash out in anger or frustration or even bitterness. But what God wants us to do is fulfill our responsibilities while in the valley. We are not there by accident. It is God’s providence that we have arrived in that place, and He placed us there for a purpose.
I’ve shared with you before that when Clay and I were dating I was going through my own valley and Deb said to me, “Don’t miss what God has for you in this trial. Pass your test.” That’s what the writer of Streams in the Desert is saying in the above quote. Don’t shirk your responsibilities in the valley. Our quartet sings a song that says, Even the valley is higher ground. Satan can’t touch me where God’s love abounds. A pastoral counselor said to Clay while he was going through his divorce, “Don’t waste a good nervous breakdown.” Get all you can out of it. You’re where you are for a purpose. Don’t miss it. Pass your test. God’s right there with you, encouraging you to finish well.
“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley” (Ezekiel 37:1).
“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11).
Have a blessed weekend. If you are in the Spartanburg area and have some free time tomorrow, come to the WOW Women’s Conference at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium - and stop by our Hannah’s Hope table to say hello! It’s gonna be a great day!
Hope