The Lord of the Hills and Valleys

1Kings 20:28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. The Lord is God not just of the hills or the high points in our lives when everything is hunky-dory and all is going well for us but He is God of the valleys, the low points in our lives when all is not going well for us. I have come across believers who say they are closer to the Lord in times of prosperity and success rather than failure, trouble or suffering. But, the majority of people tend to forget God in times of happiness. It is in the “valley times” that we feel like clinging onto God just as a terrified child clings onto her mother’s clothes when frightened. The Syrian king Benhadad was deluded into believing that the God of Israel who had given Israel victory in the hilly terrain cannot deliver in the valley or the plains. But, the Lord put the more numerous Syrian army to rout in the hills and in the valleys. The Lord is God of the hills and the valleys in our lives. He will deliver us from the multitude of sins, the multitude of troubles, the multitude of forces of darkness, the multitude of adversaries that surround us. On the hills or high points of our lives, we must be ever thankful and praise God for His blessings. In the valley times, we must depend on the Lord for strength and wisdom. We must expect a great deliverance so that we will know that it is the Lord who has acted and intervened on our behalf. Every man’s life is a series of ups and downs, hills and valleys. In the landscape or geography of life, we must consistently build our relationship with the Lord. It is unrealistic to expect that the graph of our happiness or good fortune will always be rising. When we reach a high point,we need to realize that there is going to be a downturn soon even as a climber once he reaches the peak prepares for the descent from the summit. But, the memory and euphoria of the climb never leaves him but sustains his joyful emotions right through the rest of life. The landscape of our lives might change as it always does but the Lord remains the same. Our relationship needs to get stronger as the going gets tougher. We need to recognize that He is the Lord of the hills and the valleys. We need to recount the hills or high points in our lives and thank God. We also need to equally recount the valleys or low points in our lives and thank God for His deliverance. Prateep V Philip