Everyone loves being on the mountain tops, but seasons in the valleys are inevitable. It is important to acknowledge that the valley seasons produce harvests that you could never grow on the mountains. As sure as the grapes grow in the valleys of California, the fruits of our lives are produced through the valley. There are different types of valleys that we walk through in our lives—some of them we are even called to. One valley in particular, the Valley of Elah, is a valley that we are called to where we have the opportunity to destroy our giants.

You may be sitting on top of the mountain top right now, but something still doesn’t feel right... Something is still tormenting you. The giant in your life is in the valley shouting up at you, taunting you. Maybe your giant is ​anger,​ maybe your giant is ​depression,​ or maybe your giant is the past ​abuse​ that you pretend never happened. Whatever it is, your giant is a big problem. A giant won’t go away until you destroy it. It’s not a one-day torment or even a week long torment. A giant makes its stand 40 days and 40 nights, wearing you down with each day it remains. You go to sleep with this giant and you wake up to this giant. The giant takes your peace by yelling from the valley below. Those are the times in our lives where we find ourselves called to go down into the valley to take out that giant once and for all. Giants don’t sneak up on you, they are too big and too loud. You know it’s there and ​it's up to you to confront it.

As believers, we have a tendency to solely focus on the mountain tops—the good moments, the season where everything goes right. But that’s the thing; it’s just a ​season.​ Just as the mountain top is a season, so are the valleys—the low moments where the attack against you has been specifically made to take you out. Don’t be discouraged that others aren’t struggling with the same thing—that’s not ​their ​battle. But even though there is a tailor made attack for you, fear not because there is also a tailor made plan to get you through it.

We have to understand that whether or not we believe that God is in the valley does not actually dictate his presence in it. ​He is there! ​He is omnipresent—everywhere at once and with you always!​ ​​We must acknowledge and be prepared for the valleys to come while we’re on the mountain tops. If you don’t understand that He is the God of the hills ​and ​the valleys, you will give up when you’re going through the low moments. Hills and valleys are the rollercoaster of life. Let’s just lift our hands and ride out this bumpy, loopy, crazy life because joy ​will ​come in the morning!