The Christian life is not lived on the mountain tops. I certainly wish it was, but it is not. We all have had those mountain top experiences in our lives, and we must never forget them. However, so much of life is lived in the valleys.
As I watched Kurdish nomads move their sheep from winter to summer pastures, they always moved their animals through the valleys between the mountain peaks. It made sense.
Obviously, the predators who lived on killing sheep that strayed away, also knew that. They would be there lurking in the valleys, just waiting for another to stray away.
Though the valleys were much easier to travel through, they were filled with more danger. That is where the shepherd came in. Without the shepherd guiding the flock through the valleys they would get lost. Without the shepherd protecting the flock in the valleys none would make it out alive.
Jesus knows we too spend most of our journey in the valleys. That is where “food and water” are found. He knows the mountain top experiences, though a blessing, are not where we flourish. I never found water or green grass on the mountain peaks in Iran. They were bare rocks with beautiful vistas.
As I journey through the valleys, Jesus has promised to be my shepherd and yours as well. He will be there to guide and protect us with His very life.
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;” Psalm 23:4
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