Hammer on Anvil '

Life is a journey.  There are low points and there are high points.  There are times when we feel as if we have hit rock bottom; that everything that can go wrong has gone wrong.  And then there are times when we feel as if we are on top of the world; as if life could not be more perfect because everything has fallen perfectly into place.

Faith is a journey too.  We have our low points and high points.  The low points often occur because of some tragedy or perhaps because we messed up and we’ve hidden from God.  We feel alone.  The high points are those moments when we felt closest to God.  These might occur at a spiritual retreat or a mission trip, or it might occur because we’ve finally let God take a turn at being in control.

This wave is natural.  It is how we operate as human beings.

As humans, we mess up.  And when we mess up, we usually don’t want anyone to know about it, especially not God.  That lonely feeling?  That’s what happens when you hide from God.  He hasn’t gone away.  In reality, He’s right there staring you straight in the face, but you have your eyes closed because you’re ashamed to face Him.  But what He wants more than anything is for you to open your eyes, open your arms, and embrace Him once more.

And those lows that occur because of some tragedy or life-altering event, God is there in those times too.  Those are the times that the poem “Footprints” refers to when it says that God is carrying you.  These times can feel like the end of the world, as if God has abandoned you and the entire world.  But the times of your greatest trials are often followed by the times of your greatest growth.  We would never learn how to depend on God if we had no reason why we should.

We all have trials.  We all mess up.  But what matters most is what you do when it happens.  If you embrace this wave as a natural cycle of faith, then you will find yourself in an ascending wave in which you are growing gradually closer to God and you are gradually understanding more of His ways.  You will realize that just because you fell down doesn’t mean you have to stay down.  And just because you messed up, it doesn’t mean you have to hide.

Embrace the ascending wave.