July 30th, 2026
If you could plot your spiritual journey on a graph, what would the pattern look like?
A graph of our life would include some ups and downs, incredible mountaintop experiences and some deep valleys in between. The valleys represent the seasons when we feel far from God. They may be times of testing, seasons when His voice seems silent, or valleys of our own making because we have drifted from Him.
For some of us, our spiritual progress resembles a heart monitor graph—the image on the left above. There are moments of excitement and commitment that spike upward, but we quickly settle back down to the same baseline.
The troubling part is that the highs never seem to get higher, and the valleys feel just as low as they have always been before.
But what if our spiritual growth looked more like the stock chart of a company steadily trending upward? It still has valleys. There are difficult seasons and setbacks. Yet each valley does not take us as low as the one before, and every new peak rises higher than the last.
Psalm 84:7 says:
“They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”
This is the promise for those who seek God. It does not mean we will never face trials or experience seasons when God feels distant. It means that those who pursue Him move from strength to strength. Each new mountaintop builds upon the previous one. God continues to deepen and stretch us.
Take the First Step
You may be reading this and thinking, If I could just reach the first mountaintop, maybe that could happen. But I don't even know where to begin.
That is why I love the story of Gideon. When God called him to deliver Israel, Gideon was hiding in fear. He told God that he came from the weakest family in the weakest clan. In essence he was saying, I don't even know where to start.
God replied in Judges 6:14:
“Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
In other words, take the first step of faith.
You do not have to have everything figured out. You may not know where the resources will come from. You may wonder who will fight with you. You may even feel as though your spiritual fuel tank is nearly empty.
We find that dilemma in the story of the feeding of the 5,000. The people were hungry and needed to eat. Jesus tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat.” All they had was a boy’s lunch. Once it was surrendered to Christ and prayed over, the leftovers were vastly more than what the boy had to offer.
God simply says to take the first step with what you already possess.
Commit Your Next Steps to God
If God is calling you to take that first step toward your new mountaintop, He will provide what you need for the next step. As we keep moving forward, we discover strength like we have never known.
Second Chronicles 16:9 says:
“The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
God is looking for people who seek Him and His will. When he finds them, he gives them more strength to fulfill His purpose in their life.
It is almost like God carries them on eagles’ wings. His strength powers them through the valleys and leads us to higher ground.
So let us seek Him with all of our being and trust Him to lead us from strength to strength.
Blessings,
A graph of our life would include some ups and downs, incredible mountaintop experiences and some deep valleys in between. The valleys represent the seasons when we feel far from God. They may be times of testing, seasons when His voice seems silent, or valleys of our own making because we have drifted from Him.
For some of us, our spiritual progress resembles a heart monitor graph—the image on the left above. There are moments of excitement and commitment that spike upward, but we quickly settle back down to the same baseline.
The troubling part is that the highs never seem to get higher, and the valleys feel just as low as they have always been before.
But what if our spiritual growth looked more like the stock chart of a company steadily trending upward? It still has valleys. There are difficult seasons and setbacks. Yet each valley does not take us as low as the one before, and every new peak rises higher than the last.
Psalm 84:7 says:
“They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”
This is the promise for those who seek God. It does not mean we will never face trials or experience seasons when God feels distant. It means that those who pursue Him move from strength to strength. Each new mountaintop builds upon the previous one. God continues to deepen and stretch us.
Take the First Step
You may be reading this and thinking, If I could just reach the first mountaintop, maybe that could happen. But I don't even know where to begin.
That is why I love the story of Gideon. When God called him to deliver Israel, Gideon was hiding in fear. He told God that he came from the weakest family in the weakest clan. In essence he was saying, I don't even know where to start.
God replied in Judges 6:14:
“Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
In other words, take the first step of faith.
You do not have to have everything figured out. You may not know where the resources will come from. You may wonder who will fight with you. You may even feel as though your spiritual fuel tank is nearly empty.
We find that dilemma in the story of the feeding of the 5,000. The people were hungry and needed to eat. Jesus tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat.” All they had was a boy’s lunch. Once it was surrendered to Christ and prayed over, the leftovers were vastly more than what the boy had to offer.
God simply says to take the first step with what you already possess.
Commit Your Next Steps to God
If God is calling you to take that first step toward your new mountaintop, He will provide what you need for the next step. As we keep moving forward, we discover strength like we have never known.
Second Chronicles 16:9 says:
“The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
God is looking for people who seek Him and His will. When he finds them, he gives them more strength to fulfill His purpose in their life.
It is almost like God carries them on eagles’ wings. His strength powers them through the valleys and leads us to higher ground.
So let us seek Him with all of our being and trust Him to lead us from strength to strength.
Blessings,
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