One of the constant themes of the scriptures is that our lives are a series of ups and downs, or mountains and valleys. This is true of individuals, civilizations and humanity.

Rome started small, became great, and became a shadow or a whisper, a mere memory. Going into the stories of scripture, Jacob the supplanter becomes Israel, the one who strives and prevails over God and humans. Israel also becomes the one who needs saving, from himself and from the forces that are beyond his control, such as the famine that led his family back to Joseph, who was sold into slavery but became second in the Pharaoh’s kingdom. Years before these events, Abram and Sarai are made righteous through their faith, and yet, their faith faltered at significant points along the way. Jesus ascends the mount of transfiguration, where he is revealed as the only begotten son of God, the Messiah, and then descends into the valley where he is betrayed, denied, executed and laid in another’s tomb.

Some scriptures, such as Psalm 23, outline this dual nature of life, in which the Lord is our shepherd. We are fed, given still waters to drink of, led in good and right pastures, and yet, we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death before we feast at the banquet where our cup overflows with God’s blessings. Likewise, Philippians 2 describes the way of Christ, who though he was in the form of God became one of us, and became our servant, becoming obedient even to the point of death on a cross, from which obedience he is given the name above all names, the name to which all will bow and confess, to the glory of God the Father.

The Rev. Brian Sixbey

We know life is like this, and we have our own stories in our own time, such as Rocky Balboa, and we celebrate the underdog and cheer for those who rise from rags to riches. However, when the story shifts and becomes riches to rags, or when the riches never materialize, or the fame never arrives, or the story of our lives seems to never reach a high point, we seem to forget that the cycle of life is not the whole story of life. In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man never ceases to be rich, nor does Lazarus cease to suffer — not until their lives on earth are over are the tables turned and the cycle finished.

Thus, Jesus adds a layer to the idea of mountains and valleys — that what happens on earth is not necessarily the end of the story. Yes, we will likely go through cycles of plenty and cycles of want in this life, but we do not live merely to get to a season of plenty so that we can then check out and call it over, as if life were a poker game, and whoever dies with the most chips (the most toys) wins.

Jesus, in the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21), suggests that how we live in this world, including how we treat — and whether we even notice — the people around us, particularly those who are “beneath” us, matters far more than whether we had good things — that is, whether the cycle of life ever favored us. In fact, in his teaching on the judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus suggests that the cycles we find ourselves do not matter at all. They are merely the circumstances of our lives. Rather, the thing that is of paramount importance is whether we bothered to help, befriend, love, care for or be of service to “the least of these.”

Am I saying that we shouldn’t care whether things are going well or badly, whether we are suffering or not? No, for that would be impossible. The conditions of our lives matter a great deal — but not in the way we think they matter. The conditions of our lives, whether we are on a mountain or down in a valley, are merely conditions we live with. Instead, as the parable of the sower of the seed says, the “cares of the age, and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.” (Matthew 13:22) If our focus is on maximizing our wealth and comfort or minimizing our suffering, rather than bearing seed of eternal life, we have choked off the work of God in our lives and in the world.

Allow me to suggest this: If we focused on being a blessing to other people and sharing the good news of the Gospel, we would help others experience a better life, not only in the world to come, but also in this world.

I have made many references and switches in this essay, so I would like to summarize it now. Life will ebb and flow, and we will experience joy and suffering. However, unlike civilizations, empires and even nations, we do not live only for this life, and the circumstances of our lives are not a reflection of the value of our lives. However, if we take the scope of scripture seriously, we do not exist for ourselves alone. We are here to be of service to others and to share the good news we have in Jesus with others. If we live in that scope of scripture, we will not only have hope in hard times, but we will also help others have hope themselves.

We have enough bad news in our day and time, but as John said, so I will repeat — I am writing this “so that our joy may be complete.” (1 John 1:4)

The Rev. Brian Sixbey is pastor of First United Methodist Church Fox Hill in Hampton.

https://www.dailypress.com/2025/10/19/faith-values-mountains-and-valleys-that-shape-our-lives/