In your walk with Christ you will face many ups and many downs. The ups will always be far greater then your downs, however the downs will likely be more often then your ups. That is the way it goes. I have seen multiple times in my life and in my family’s life where the same God was with us through both.

How is it possible that the same God who ‘allows’ such pain and misery is indeed the SAME God during our good times of love and peace? Because surely no ‘good’ God would ever let any harm come upon us now would he? And if it does, if we were to ever face any hardships in our life then we must not be living for God good enough now are we? If we hadn’t of missed church last Sunday or if we had been going to church more altogether. If we had been doing this, if we had been doing that. What if we had been going to church all of our lives? What if we had served God with all our heart, all our lives? What if we hadn’t of? What if we had of just died when we were laying on the death bed, gasping for air? As I have heard my favorite TV Minister Character (Rev. Eric Camden from my Fav show, 7th Heaven) I have to say.

We can’t play ‘What If’, we can only deal with ‘What Is’ and what is, is this. The Bible tells us, Jesus Christ himself tells us that if wechoose to follow him,we MUST be willing to count the cost. Because there IS a cost that we will pay, DAILY for serving him, for claiming to live in HIM. Too often ministers today try and paint ‘The Christian Life’ as this glamorous lifestyle. One where you never do any work and everything gets handed to you on a gold platter and a velvet pillow. But that isn’t true. Another saying from one of my other ‘real’ favorite TV Ministers, (Billy Graham) is this. (And I am certain I’ve repeated this before, because it’s true.)

“Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything.” – Rev. Billy Graham

The way of righteousness is straight and narrow is the gate, but the way of hell is broad and wide and it leads to destruction.

He Is Still God In The Valley –

When times are rough, it is often hard to believe that someone really is up there looking out for you. But we must not forget, he is still God of the valley. The same God that was with you when you landed that big real estate deal, he’s the same God with you now while you struggle to pay your bills. Don’t doubt God. While questioning and reasoning is OK and most certainly natural, don’t even do that. Just Believe. Have Faith. He will bring you through, it will be alright. It may be hard to see the brighter side of your situation right now, but believe me when I tell you this. There is a brighter side to every dark day. And most likely, it isn’t too far away. All you need to do is keep holding on.

“Don’t give up, it’s worth it. Just keep trying.” – Obama

(Yes, I quoted the big O’)

It’s like a little light in a huge dark room. It’s not bright enough to light your entire way. Though it is just enough brightness to light up enough ahead of you so you can see your way through. Don’t worry about what is behind you, don’t worry about what is ahead of, just look beside you and God will be there. He’s guarding you from the front, he’s walking beside you and he’s trusting that you’ll never look back. Whoever puts their hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God. In the Christian walk we will be given many mountains to climb, (many plows to put our hands to) we must never look back, because each step we take is one less step to glory and one more step from hell. So there is no point in looking back, by the time we reach the top, even though we must go back down. It’s still to far to look back.

In Conclusion:

After each mountain, there will always be another valley and after each valley, there will always be another mountain. Back when I was still struggling with the pain from my mom in 2010, I wrote this short piece about ‘The Christian Life’ it isn’t anything of great extravagance, but it is something of significance.

“With every sorrow there is a joy. With every valley there is a hill. But with every joy there is a sorrow. And with every hill there is a valley. The life of a Christian is not easy. You follow a path that winds through the darkest places only to come out in the brightest of all, then to go back down into the darkest pit only to rise on the highest mountain.” – Nathan Tune

So keep walking my friends, keep climbing. Keep struggling, keep pursuing, keep persevering. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep letting your light shine. Keep rocking on, and keep moving on. Keep your held high and your spirits held higher. Keep your eyes on Christ and your mind on truth. Keep your heart on love and your feet on the rock. Keep picking up your cross, daily.

SHALOM –