View Blog Entry

In the early 1970s, I came to faith in Christ. Speakers came through our church to share their mountaintop experiences. It appeared they were jumping from one peak to another. Spiritually speaking, I could not get out of bed without tripping over my own feet. I said, “Lord, what's wrong with me?”

This question remained until I got to know some of these speakers. Between these mountaintop experiences, these men usually had a time in the valley where they tripped over their feet, just like me. They conveniently had omitted their valley, which had made their mountaintops possible.

Great people of faith are clay jars, just like us. The only difference is that God may have sovereignly used them for his glory. Christians love mountaintop experiences, but faithfulness grows in the valley.

A farmer must cultivate the soil before it will grow crops. He needs to turn the ground over and plant the seeds. He fertilizes the soil and provides the moisture that enables the seeds to germinate. It does not just happen; it takes a lot of work.  

Developing faithfulness is similar. We must read God's Word and allow it to turn over the fallow ground in our hearts. When our lives don't measure up, we must apply God's Word through repentance. Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit, not a gift. God bestows gifts, but fruits are grown.

Most crops are grown in the valley rather than on the mountaintop. When it appears not much is happening in our lives, God works faithfulness into our character.

David cared for a few sheep and was absent when Samuel sought a king. But the ability David gained in the sheepfold to slay the lion and the bear was what he used to kill Goliath.

Never despise the mundane in your life. God uses the ordinary to bring about the extraordinary. Keith Green, a Christian musician, once said, "If you find yourself in the valley, farm it."

Wherever you find yourself, know God is cultivating faithfulness.