Highs And Lows

When I first entered middle school, I despised the thought of running.

It was something I never understood, you’re constantly gasping for air, your body aches the entire time, and it’s boring, to top it all off. So I’m sure you can imagine how I felt when I found out that running multiple miles at a time for P.E. would become part of my regular weekly routine. Everytime we’d line up to start a run, my hands would get clammy and I’d have a pit in my stomach. I hated running.

This was the case until one day, a few weeks into school, my PE teacher started running alongside us for every mile run we had to do. I didn’t think much of it until, anytime any of us would fall behind, he’d be right there with words of encouragement to help keep us going. And let me tell you, it was a GAME CHANGER. I remember him telling me, “You got this, just one foot in front of the other, you’re doing great.” And it got me through the rest of the run. I didn’t realize it at the time, but over the course of the year I got better and better at running and actually grew to love doing it. By the end of the school year, I had the fastest mile time out of all the girls in my grade: 6 minutes, 5 seconds.

My teacher doesn’t realize it, but that alone made a huge impact in my life, and that was only through a PE class.

Now, just imagine having someone by your side saying words of encouragement for every waking moment of your life, not just during a run. That’s what God does.

As it says in Joshua 1:9,

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

It can be so easy to think and feel as though the trials and tribulations that we face are battles too big for God to face or that God will only be by our side when it is most convenient for Him, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We serve a God that has seen our darkest nights. He hears our deepest thoughts and knows the turmoil in our own hearts. We will never have to walk through the fire alone.

This truth is captured within the song Highs and Lows, which is why it is one of my favorite songs. I love the chorus of the song, it says:

Highs and lows

You surround me either way it goes

Should I rise or should I fall

Lord, You're with me through it all

God does not pick and choose which battle to face with you. On the contrary, He doesn’t disappear when life is easy either. He's there to celebrate with us during our highest of highs, and He’s there to comfort us during our lowest of lows. He is consistent with His love and will not leave your side, no matter the season.

Nothing is too big or dark or scary for our God. When we recognize how God has moved in our lives, we can respond with faith throughout both the highs and the lows. We can give praise during the good moments, knowing that it’s God that makes those mountain top seasons possible. And we can remind ourselves during the hard seasons when there seems to be no end in sight, to have faith in God’s promise that He will never leave our side.

My prayer for you today is that you are reminded of God’s goodness - that there will be difficulties to face, but you can face them confidently in God’s strength - and watch to see how He transforms your trials into blessings.

He is and always will be there with you through all the highs and lows.

Claire Ledevic

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