I always knew what the mountain top looked like – felt like. Even when I wasn’t there, it was ingrained in my memory banks. I knew it when I stood upon it, and I was grateful for the view from there when I had the chance to savor it and revel in it. And I remember it oh, so sweetly when I am in the valley…wishing I were not down below….gazing upward and waiting, waiting for my time to be on the mountain top again..
I have to be honest ~ I don’t really like the valley so much. I enjoy the freedom that comes from being on top of the world. I like the panoramic views…the sense of being weightless. I like the feeling of power. But it has been less tempting to look to myself and revel in that “power” from the valley. I’ve been in the valley for a while, friends. These past couple of weeks I am feeling better – much better. Kinda like I might be turning a corner in regard to these health issues I have been facing and fighting. And I see the mountain top as a place I may be again one day soon.What will happen then? Yes, I can see the mountaintop again and am climbing it as we speak. I will be on top of it looking around again – soon. Very soon. Lord…will I remember that even when I get to receive this new season of being on the top of the world, that there’s still plenty of need to look up? Or will I forget…forget to give you the glory, the honor, the gratitude for all the seasons I have been in throughout my life? I have learned so much in the valley. I have known you in new ways I never could have known about if I stayed on the mountain top all along. You met me here – in this valley. You told me you understood the suffering to a degree that I cannot express in words, but know now that you revealed yourself to me in this way. Do I have cause to be afraid? Shall I fear falling into the hands of the devil if I move out of the needy valley and up onto the top of the world? No…I will not fear climbing the mountain. I will not fear that I will lose this intimacy with you once I move upward. I will not be afraid of goodness, health, happiness, and seasons of prosperity, or absence of trouble. Trouble has not become my idol. Success and coming through the other side of those challenges will not be either. If I fall into self-sufficiency you are faithful…you are as faithful to rein us in during our needy valley experiences as well as when our heads and hearts get too full of self. You are faithful in all seasons. I plan to enjoy the view from wherever I may be. Always looking up. But if for any reason my eyes get too full of the grandeur of living to the fullest during times of health and prosperity, I trust my Jesus to show me. Climbing is hard. But at least I am moving. Moving is so much better than being stagnant. And I know just which way to go….. Straight Up. “So you shall observe to do just as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. “You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess. Deuteronomy 10:12-13
Eyes Wide Open 
I too have been the valley for about a month now. However, the valley is where we grow, where we are refined and where we suffer. We tend to not appreciate being on the mountain without experiencing the suffering in the valley. God bless you.
Good one!
been on many mountaintops in my youth, now I just look up and remember!