Praying Through the Hills and the Valleys

Several months ago, I started the below blog post. I logged on today to share what I am feeling right now, and in doing so, my eyes saw this unfinished post. It's interesting that this moment of clarity below led me to sharing my current journey with friends more transparently than I typically would. Not because there is shame in transparency, its just the way I was raised and a cycle I am trying to break. But, this sequence of events along with some other unfolding puzzle pieces made me want to allow others into this particular chapter. The truth is, that I got some bad news this week that was a blow to my ego and my heart. But these people, my dearest, who had been praying with me, they were there on the other side. I could text one line and they knew exactly how I was feeling on the other side. And as texts, emails and phone calls have come in, I have felt an overwhelming amount of gratefulness and blessing. As one friend put it, "I am disappointed with you." They are sharing the burden my heart feels now, and when a time of good news comes, they will rejoice with me in that moment too. I hope you have this same community of friends too... it's priceless.

In the meantime, here is the original blog post. If its been brewing for a few months now, it has to be worth the read, right?

I had a moment this morning. You, know the one. The one where a sequence of events come together like perfectly fit puzzle pieces. The one where you buy a vowel and get a clue. Let me back up and explain.

One of my dearest has been dealing with a challenge recently that if not overcome, has a serious impact to the season that God has them in. In short, it is a complete spiritual attack. But instead of freaking out, they chose another path, trusting in God and calling their closest to join them in prayer on the matter.

The call for prayer and trusting that God would intervene came through an email, and in the days that followed friends rose to the challenge. They prayed, they sent scripture, they sent supporting emails... and while I was "part" of the email chain, I sat in awe for a reason that I could not explain. There was something about it that struck my core, a thought at the edge of my brain that was tickling its way to the front, screaming to be known. And suddenly it hit me.

How often do we really trust God with the details? Really. Take the spiritual church talk and toss it out the window, how often do you really trust God with the details? I think we often talk about praying through a situation, and we may even be saying the prayer, but the words must support the actions. You see, I watched my friend look at a really hard situation before them. There were many options on how to approach the situation, but first they chose to pray. First, they chose to call their closest to pray with them. Don't get me wrong, we have responsibility in the matters of this world too. This particular situation involved research and certain steps of action, but in the end only God can change the heart of man, part a red sea, and change the impossible.

In the midst of this, I received another email from a dear friend who is doing great things in African business. I am blessed enough to be able to partner with her and pray on a weekly basis. Today's email, had a passage from Psalm 47 - "Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy." Along with this came a brilliant epiphany, "Whatever we do, it is to celebrate God. As we pray together, we celebrate."

I love the concept that I am celebrating God when I pray. And it is also a reminder to come to Him in all things. At the beginning of this year, I was reading in 1 Kings. There was a section where God punishes a group of people because they did not believe that God was the God of the hills and the God of the valley's. I felt convicted. It's not that I don't believe that God is God of all things - including both the hills and valleys of life, but I don't know that my actions always subscribe to this. I am at His feet when life is hard, but I am not always at His feet when life is good. And I want to celebrate Him in all seasons.