Coffee & Valleys
A quick thought about the ups and downs of life.
Think about the morning coffee that you must have to start each morning. It's a vital part of your morning and a key component to your routine. With it, you start the day on the right foot. You can feel energetic, empowered, and (if you're being honest) awake enough to conquer the day's events. Without it, you're slow, grumpy, moody, and can't think a lick. When people ask your secret to your productivity, you say it's that hot bean juice. It's the background preparation that makes the foreground presentation pop.
A lot of people know me as a bright, bubbly, outgoing, loud, and kind Jesus follower. I've been gifted with a quick mind to understand, a pen to write with, words to speak, and a smile with jokes that's contagiously happy. I've repeatedly had people say they wish they had my constant enthusiasm and spirit. But what they don't see is the depth behind it.
As 2019 was wrapping up and 2020 was getting under way, I found myself repeatedly falling into a depressed state. It was not as much depression as a temporary loss of all energy, thought, drive, and comprehension. I would end up aimlessly staring at the wall or an object in utter silence and with no desire to snap out. It was so bad one night that I ended up going to someone's house and sat on the couch by myself for 30 minutes while reading a book, thinking a change in scenery might snap me out of it (it helped). These lows are not new for me. They are a regular part of my days. You can't know what's high until you know how low. But the depth of these daily valleys were much greater than the normal depths.
There's no difference between these and coffee. Both are technically unnecessary to continue on, but we choose to partake in them. In seemingly backwards fashion, we actually selfishly enjoy the buzz and the low. We are comfortable in our misery because that's all we know, and comfort is better than risky change. But it doesn't have to be that way. If God is truly your Lord, then daily your mind is being transformed to follow, trust, and love Him more. Daily your flesh is being killed so you can walk spiritually and scripturally, not physically. You and I don't have to live in the valley or from buzz to buzz because we know our God is our strength and source of energy all the time.