Highs and Lows

Some called it a teeter-totter, but I called it a seesaw and it was one of my favorite playground amenities in elementary school. There were always risks involved when it came to mounting a teeter-totter during recess. If you rode it with someone heavier than you, you struggled to touch your feet to the ground. If you rode it with someone lighter than you, you struggled to get off the ground. If you rode it with someone who was untrustworthy, they could ditch you while you’re in the air and send you crashing to the ground. The best rides on a teeter-totter back in the day were usually with a trusted friend who was about the same size.

Up and down. Up and down. The seesaw was exhilarating. A combination of innocent whimsy and delight with a dash of danger.

Sometimes faith can seem like a teeter-totter ride. Up and down. Up and down.

Courage, praise, and God-confidence rises and falls with seasons that change and range from joyous to disastrous, righteous to rebellious, plentiful to pitiful.

Psalm 107 is a vibrant account of highs and lows endured by God’s redeemed. Here are two up and down excerpts.

“4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.

17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways
and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food
and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
(Psalm 107: 4-6, 17-20, NIV).

LOWS: Some wandered, were hungry and thirsty (4), some were foolish and sick, (17).

HIGHS: God gathered the wanderers, the hungry, and the thirsty (5 ). He saved, healed and rescued (19-20).

No matter the peril, the shift from low to high came when they cried out to God. And the same is true for us. When storms of life toss us around and cause our courage to melt away, Jesus can be trusted. He lifts us up with love and sets us down in safety.

As we raise our gazes from the lows to the Most High our hearts rise in the power, comfort, praise and perspective we need for the moment.

Dear Lord, No matter what I face today You are with me. Help me not to be swayed by the ups and downs of life, but, instead, to hold tight to Your hand as you guide me through each shift. Thank You for gathering me when I wander, for satisfying my soul in times of deep hunger and thirst. You are above all and before all. In You I have life and hope, and in Your strength, I yield the moments, worries and matters of my heart and day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

FOR YOUR REFLECTION and RESPONSE

What is the Lord prompting you to trust Him with today?
Read Psalm 107 in its entirety and consider how God has been with you in both highs and lows.