Weekend Worship—Meditations from Ethiopia #5—Mountaintop or Valley?

The eleven followers went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. On the mountain they saw Jesus and worshiped him, but some of them did not believe it was really Jesus. Matt 28:16-17

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I fear no evil, for You are with me. Psalm 23:4

Spending time in Ethiopia has changed my entire perspective on valleys and mountaintops. I’ve always equated a mountaintop with something good that happened, or an easy time. And for me, a valley was a time of want, or need. I’d always unconsciously assumed my mountaintops were a sign of blessing and the valleys a place of testing.

In Ethiopia I experienced a time of intense want—I would have given anything to be able to meet even a fraction of the needs I saw on every side. I wanted to bless, to give, to love, but I was powerless. And yet . . . within that I experienced more of God than ever before. It was like I could see with His eyes, walk with His feet, and touch with His arms.

I found a mountaintop in the midst of the valley of death.