The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.’” 1 Kings 20:28

The Arameans thought they had been defeated because Israel’s God was the God of the mountains, which is where they had been fighting. So they devised to fight Israel in the valleys, where Israel’s God was powerless (they thought). But the God of the mountain is still God in the valley (1Kings 20:23-28).

We’ve been talking about mileposts on the journey of Christian maturity. One I’d like to consider today is this: The highs and lows of life don’t impact our relationship with Jesus.

Given a choice, most of us would choose spiritual mountaintops over spiritual valleys. But Jesus is Lord of the valley as well as Lord of the mountaintop. And as Christians we will face valleys (Jn 15:33)

He grants us amazing times; times when the anointing on our lives is so great. Everything we set our hand to comes up roses. Ministry is a dream, family relationships and friendships are fabulous, we’re up and Jesus is so dear and close. His presence is all over us.

We need these moutaintop experiences. We need the encouragement, the peace and the joy that comes on the mountaintops. Never shun moutaintops in your own life or in others. Rejoice with those rejoicing.

But one day we wake up and find ourselves in the valleys. It’s like we remember wonderful times we had, and now…they’re just memories. Everything has crashed or is teetering. No matter how hard we work, failure seems assured. Ministry issues abound. Friends disappear and Jesus seems so very far away…and for the life of us we can’t figure out how all this has happened.

One of the mileposts of maturity is that whether we’re dancing on the mountaintops or weeping in the valley, our view of God is unchanged. Our circumstances do not determine our relationship with Jesus. Our relationship with Jesus determines how we walk—whether on the mountaintops or in the valleys.

Our passion for Jesus doesn’t waver even if our experience of His presence has peaks and valleys—even if our life experiences have peaks and valleys.

The is, the highs and lows of life don’t impact the quality of our walk with God.