The God of Mountain Tops and Valleys

Only three things are guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and tough times. Nothing else is certain in our life time. Anything that lives will die, anything that has the ability to reason will pay taxes, and every human person will experience trials and tribulations. Life is a roller-coaster. As humans we go through cycles, and it’s easy to get discouraged.

We all have our ups and downs. We all have our happy moments and our hurting moments. But why is this? Why is happiness such a fleeting moment; why is it just that—a flickering light?

I’ve come to ask myself this question many times over. I see people getting happy because they won the lottery, because that girl they asked out said yes, because the bank approved the mortgage for that house, because the wife is pregnant with their first kid. They’re excited. Almost bursting at the seams. They can’t contain themselves. Their smile stretches from ear to ear. They are happy.

But you see, the word happy and the word happen come from the same root hap, which means “an occurrence, happening, or accident”. It’s no wonder a known synonym for hap is happenstance which is nothing more than the word happen+( circum )stance.

So happiness is circumstance-driven. You only become happy when something happens to you. Happiness is only caused by an external factor. Your emotions swing to and fro manipulated by the circumstances that happen to you. Circumstances have unashamedly made a slave of you.

That’s why some people commit suicide when they lose all the lottery money they had won, get depressed when that girl they asked out dumps them, feel their world crumbling down when the house they bought is now on foreclosure, or feel hopeless because the pregnant wife just lost the baby. They were originally ecstatic and happy but now they feel paralyzed and beaten by these new developments that obviously have affected their lives.

I don’t mean to diminish their hurt. Things that are outside of our control do happen. Their hurt is real. Your hurt is real. My hurt is real.

So how does our faith play into helping us during these tough times?

Well, let’s consider now the word joy. Joyfulness means just that: joy+fulness, namely, being full of joy. Joyfulness it’s a state, it’s not based on circumstances. Joy cannot be swayed by external factors. It’s possible to be sad and crying and still be joyful inside.

But where does that joy come from? What is the source of this state of being? What fills our hearts with hope and joy in the midst of suffering, crumbling relationships, death in the family, having no shelter nor clothes nor food or being unjustly incarcerated?

Remember we were talking about ups and downs? Well, the joy comes from remembering during our ups that our God is the God of the mountain tops and, during our downs, remembering that our God is the God of the valleys.

Everybody feels good when in their ups. We feel invincible, ecstatic, and larger-than-life. But during our downs the only thing we have left is to say, “Lord, help me”.

And that’s how our faith helps us during our tough times. God, the creator of the universe, always hears the prayers of those who love Him, and because He loves us unconditionally, there’s no need to masquerade before the throne of God. There are no “ifs” and “buts” with Him, there’s only unconditional one-way love.

In this conditional world where we are easily rejected for our weaknesses and failures, or are accepted only if you’re rich, beautiful, skinny, or have the right friends, we can rest in the fact that we’re accepted by Him when we’re unacceptable, and forever loved when we are unlovable.

Jon Foreman’s Amazing Response

Thought of sharing Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman’s response when asked if Switchfoot is a “Christian” band. As the original author of the blog where I found this post remarked, “his response is worth pondering.” I couldn’t agree more with both Jon Foreman’s response, as well as with the blog post author’s comment. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

“To be honest, this question grieves me because I feel that it represents a much bigger issue than simply a couple SF tunes. In true Socratic form, let me ask you a few questions: Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ in any of their fictional series? Are Bach’s sonata’s Christian? What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset? There is a schism between the sacred and the secular in all of our modern minds.

The view that a pastor is more ‘Christian’ than a girls volleyball coach is flawed and heretical. The stance that a worship leader is more spiritual than a janitor is condescending and flawed. These different callings and purposes further demonstrate God’s sovereignty.

Many songs are worthy of being written. Switchfoot will write some, Keith Green, Bach, and perhaps yourself have written others. Some of these songs are about redemption, others about the sunrise, others about nothing in particular: written for the simple joy of music.

None of these songs has been born again, and to that end there is no such thing as Christian music. No. Christ didn’t come and die for my songs, he came for me. Yes. My songs are a part of my life. But judging from scripture I can only conclude that our God is much more interested in how I treat the poor and the broken and the hungry than the personal pronouns I use when I sing. I am a believer. Many of these songs talk about this belief. An obligation to say this or do that does not sound like the glorious freedom that Christ died to afford me.

I do have an obligation, however, a debt that cannot be settled by my lyrical decisions. My life will be judged by my obedience, not my ability to confine my lyrics to this box or that.

We all have a different calling; Switchfoot is trying to be obedient to who we are called to be. We’re not trying to be Audio A or U2 or POD or Bach: we’re trying to be Switchfoot. You see, a song that has the words: ‘Jesus Christ’ is no more or less ‘Christian’ than an instrumental piece. (I’ve heard lots of people say Jesus Christ and they weren’t talking about their redeemer.) You see, Jesus didn’t die for any of my tunes. So there is no hierarchy of life or songs or occupation only obedience. We have a call to take up our cross and follow. We can be sure that these roads will be different for all of us. Just as you have one body and every part has a different function, so in Christ we who are many form one body and each of us belongs to all the others. Please be slow to judge ‘brothers’ who have a different calling.”

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