Mountain tops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys.
—Billy Graham
We work so hard to stay on the mountain peak and take in the beauty of that moment. We go to see our favorite speaker or musician and leave with a sense of awe and inspiration. But those mountain peak moments are very small and limited compared to the vastness of our time spent in the valleys.
In reality, mountain tops are often bare rock, or even frozen over. They cannot sustain the type of harvest the Lord is calling us to produce. The valleys give us fertile soil, shade and streams of nourishment. Oh, it is full of labor and questions, but it is worth it.
Our character is built in the valleys and our faith is established in knowing who God is even when we can’t see Him.
Ask a hiker who has been caught on top of a mountain when a sudden storm rolls in. You know storms come, don’t you? They would rather be down on the valley floor than deal with the raw power of a storm up where there is no shelter and no protection.
Even those who have climbed Mt. Everest or been skiing down the sheer cliffs in the Rocky Mountains only go up there after great preparation and with very specialized equipment. Their objective isn’t to stay up on the mountain, it is to conquer the path and return again safely to their homes below.
Meditate on that for a moment.
Think of home, family and the fruit of our lives as the very thing that we were created to do and be. This is where lives are changed and the world around us sees the goodness of God. The mountain top is still there for us to conquer and the view for our inspiration and awe. The rugged trails are a testament of the creativity of our God, like our testimony we share with others, like the epic stories told by great authors meant to compel us to keep going.
So step into that which God is calling and prepare while in the valley, if you do the work now, the mountain top will come.