From Valleys To Mountain Tops


Eddie Cooper


We never know what life’s experiences will bring to us. At times we feel as though we are in the valley and at other times on top of the mountain. We’ve all had these kinds of experiences in our lives. We’ve all said that “life is full of ups and downs.”


It might be that we, or someone else, are experiencing a mountain top experience right now, after having come out of a valley experience. The valley experiences are an inescapable part of life. Because of them, we do appreciate the mountaintops a lot more. Going from one mountain to another, one must go through the valleys; and the valleys are, ultimately, the way to the highest peak.


The Psalmist said, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4).


Life is a journey filled with ups and downs. We must keep moving on. We must not stop in the valleys. Even David did not see himself being left in the shadowy valley, but referred to a walking through it. The valley is the route to the mountaintop, and he trusted in the Great Shepherd not to abandon him in the valley, but to guide him upward to greener pastures. In that trust the psalmist found great comfort.


We certainly do not know all that God has in mind or what can become of those experiences in the shadows of the valley, but we can trust in His loving awareness and the guidance He is ready to provide. Like David, we need to continue pressing on with the anticipation we will be travelling up again. May we continually find comfort in God’s presence through the varied experiences of this life’s ups and downs as we are encouraged to keep moving toward the highest peak of His eternal abiding place and the grand reunion with those who have made that journey before us.


If we want to see those who have gone before us, we need to be faithful unto death. (Revelation 2:10).  – 1036 Greenland Circle, So. Charleston, WV 25309. eddiecooper1036@hotmail.com


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