I love where I live. I really do. I consider myself very fortunate and blessed to get to live in such a beautiful place out in the country. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to live there, and I am consistently reminded of God’s goodness and love through the nature (and the people) that surrounds me. Yes, I am incredibly blessed.
Even though that is the case, even though I love where I live, it is not perfect. There are things that make living in that place more difficult than if I were to live somewhere else. For instance…internet and TV service. There is basically one option. One provider. If you’re not happy with them? No internet or TV for you. It’s not ideal. (I’m not complaining though as we mooch our internet…and a bunch of other things…off of my in-laws. Thanks Boyd & Maggie!) Another issue? Road conditions. We live off of a dirt road. Vehicles get dirty. Potholes happen. Mud happens. No nice pavement leading me home. (I even preached a whole message related to my dirty car and appearances.) Want another example? Great. Here goes. Proximity. We’re not really terribly close to much. Granted, I can get to a Speedway and a Dollar General pretty quickly, but if I want another store? Well, I’m looking at least about a 15 minute trip just to hit a Walmart. Whole Foods? Wegman’s? Meijer? Kroger? Piggly Wiggly? Seriously? No such thing anywhere close. One of the things that makes our home awesome, the location, also makes it difficult, the location. We’re far away from things…which is good. But, we’re far away from things…which is bad.
There is another thing about where I live that is challenging. The topography. The topography? The topography. The landscape is beautiful, but it is challenging…especially if you want to go for a walk, or a run, or a bicycle ride.
You see, our driveway is in a valley. Beautiful. In the spring there are flowers that line it, trees are planted close by, it even follows a small little run-off stream. The problem? At the end of the driveway, the valley ends. So, if you were to leave our house, and go down the driveway, immediately at the driveway’s end you would be faced with a choice. Right or left? Up a hill or up a hill?
Hill there. Hill there. No other option.
Unless you just wanted to walk/run/bike back and forth up and down the driveway a bunch of times, or if you wanted to drive in the car somewhere else, to walk/run/bike from our house the choice before you is as follows: Hill or Hill.
Would you like to run up the hill to the left?
Would you like to run up the hill to the right?
Nice choice, isn’t it?
To make the choice even better, both are nearly equal in terms of difficulty. The one on the right might be a little less steep at first, but it lasts longer. Either way you turn, you’re facing a challenging hill. Straight away. As soon as you reach the end of the driveway. There’s just no way to avoid it. If you want to go for a run or a walk or a bike ride from my house, you’re going to have to deal with a hill (well, you’re really going to have to deal with more than one hill depending on the length of your adventure), there’s just no getting out of it.
Here’s my problem. I would like to try to exercise with some regularity. However, I do not like going up hills while exercising, nor do I want to drive somewhere else that’s flatter just to be able to sweat…remember the proximity issue that I already mentioned. Therein lies the dilemma. If I go out to exercise, which hill will I choose? The hill that I don’t like to the left or the hill that I don’t like to the right? The hill that I dread to the left or how about the hill that I dread to the right? Which one?
When faced with this choice, I wish that I could respond “Neither! Give me another option!” I know that’s not possible, but that is what I would like. Flat roads. Smooth traveling. Ease of exercise. But, that cannot happen so I choose a direction, I pick a hill, but I’m not usually happy about it. More often than not, I’m thinking, “Boy, I hate this hill. Why are hills so hard? Why can’t I live somewhere flatter? Why is it so hard to breathe?” On the way up the hill, I’m just looking forward for the hill to be over, to be out of the way so that I can enjoy some relatively level ground (for a little bit). Nope. I’m not usually a fan of hills.
…but that view has been challenged recently.
At the start of the new year, I began reading a new devotional book that discussed hills in the first entry. Within this reading, it mentioned that one of the functions of a hill, of a mountain, is to collect water. When it rains, water is directed down the hills to streams that provide for the valleys below (remember the little runoff stream I mentioned by my driveway?). From these streams, life can bloom. Plants can grow. Fruits can ripen. Blessings can flow. The hills play a vital role in caring for the valley.
Even though hills can be tough, even though going uphill can be undesirable and straining and difficult, hills are beneficial. Hills are necessary if we want to have a fruitful life.
Right now, to me, it seems that we are collectively continuing on in an uphill struggle, an uphill battle…one that most of us would not have chosen if we were given that option. Week after week the news is filled with things that were previously unimaginable. Death tolls higher than the week before. People breaking into buildings in the name of political protest (on both sides of the argument). Restrictions. Convictions. Turmoil. Unrest. On and on and on and on. The hill looms before us and no matter which way we turn, we see more hills, and we can wonder, will it ever end? Will it ever level out? Will we ever again see a valley or a fruit tree or a blessing?
Hills are challenging. Hills are hard. Hills are not always fun. We sometimes like to complain about hills. But, they can be necessary and provide blessing.
My devotional continued, “The hills collect the rain for hundreds of fruitful valleys. And so it is with us! It is the difficulty of the hills that drive us to the throne of grace and brings down the showers of blessing. Yes, it is the hills, the cold and seemingly barren hills of life that we question and complain about, that bring down the showers.” (Nicholas Ludwig Zinzendorf)
The hills…the ones we complain about…the ones we would rather avoid…the ones we wish were flat. They can cause us to go to the throne of grace, to kneel before the Lord, to seek God in ways that we never would have sought God in the smooth times. Seeking God for strength. Seeking God for comfort. Seeking God for provision. Seeking God for His will and plan. Seeking God for wisdom. Seeking God for healing. The hills can cause us to kneel before the throne of grace and in so doing they can bring down the showers of blessing.
Hills, even though difficult, can be more beneficial than a life that knows only the flatland, smooth and easy, never experiencing anything hard.
In the world of running and cycling, many elite athletes (of which I am not even close to being one) move to Colorado to train. Many take up their home in Colorado with the express purpose of training to be an even better athlete. Why? Easier? Better coaches? More affordable? Nicer views? Nope. None of those things. They move there because of the hills. They know that if they can train and beat their bodies into shape on the mountains of Colorado, every other race, every other obstacle will be like a fruitful valley. They know that if they can persevere through the most rugged of terrains, training on elevations that deplete their oxygen levels and strain their muscles, that they can persevere and compete in any other environment that they might face. Elite athletes in these disciplines know the benefit of hills. They know that they can be used to usher in blessing.
Going forward, I hope to look at hills differently. When I reach the end of my driveway and I see the hills, I hope that I will refrain from complaining. I hope that I will not mutter and wish that I lived somewhere flat. Instead, I hope that I view the hills as an opportunity to harvest blessing, to seek the throne of grace, to see the water collected, to witness the fruit being born in my life. Hills can produce blessing. This is true in terms of fitness/exercise, but it is also true in our spiritual lives as well. Hills, though difficult and challenging, can be the very source of spiritual renewal and strength.
Psalm 104 says this,
He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
~Psalm 104:10-13
Yes, God uses hills to provide. To provide water. To provide strength. To provide satisfaction. To provide contentment. To provide reliance upon our Creator.
Friend, I ask you, what hill do you face? What uphill battle are you fighting? What lays before you that you are dreading and cannot even see where your path will level out?
In those times, when you are climbing a hill, let me encourage you. Seek the throne of grace. Seek Jesus. With everything you have, with everything you are. Throw yourself at the feet of our loving Savior. Seek his strength. Seek his mercy. Seek his love. Seek his healing. Seek his comfort. Seek his peace and know. Know that God can use the hill, even the most difficult and challenging one that you have ever faced, to bring forth blessing, to bring forth results, to be used for your good (Romans 8:28). Then, may you experience the goodness of God.
Perhaps in doing this, the next time we reach a hill (and as we climb this one), we will know that we can get through with Jesus and that we will be better for it in the end.
~ Pastor Chris
