As we crested that final cliff, I stood to full height and looked out over the scene below. A tapestry of colors stretched between the peaks. Fields of golds, reds, greens and purples colored the valley from the foot of our mountain to the foot of the next. We were overwhelmed by the beauty of it all, exclaiming at how great our Creator is. I chuckled inwardly, however, when I remembered our same voices shouting curses at the pain in our legs and the heat on our backs just moments before during our ascent.
As Christians we sometimes believe that our lives should always be "clean." We constantly seek some state of happiness or some lack of trial. To continue with the analogy from the anecdote above, we try to live from mountaintop to mountaintop, attempting to sprint through the spaces between. We try hard to stifle our questions and cast all doubt aside. We use the "feel good" verses and cliches to blindly mollify ourselves and one another. We tiptoe around grief, sneak past drama and blatantly ignore messiness. We have traded any thoughts of a wartime mindset for tolerance and an acceptance of mere adequacy.
But when I get to the top of a mountain, I realize that the view wouldn't be half as breathtaking if I hadn't gotten a few bumps and bruises during the climb. I think this idea that Christian are to constantly seek "higher ground" is hogwash. No, we are not called to live in a constant state of misery, not by any means; we can find joy and freedom in the grace we have been given. But I think that when we are in the valley, the best way to get out of it is to be willing to stay in it. Were we, as believers, more inclined to embrace our doubts, our trials, our suffering, we could more fully appreciate all that is glorious about our salvation. If we were a bit more inclined to get our noses dirty, we could experience the life that Christ died for.
The eye of the storm is the safest place to be and yet we try so hard to avoid life's hardships that we get sucked into the turmoil rather than accepting the struggle and coming out whole on the other side. If we allow ourselves to fall face-first, we are able to get back up more quickly than if the fall surprises us, knocking us flat on our backs.
My final charge us simply this: make a commitment to messiness. Allow godly sorrow back into the Church. Ask hard questions. Be willing to sit awhile in your doubt or pain. Embrace grief.
Live fully when you are in the valley and see how faithful our God is to lead you out of it.
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