Highs and lows. Mountains and valleys.

That really is a capsule of our lives and of many of our days. Often, even within the same day, we ride the thrill of the high and the mountain only to find ourselves experiencing the lows of the valleys just an hour or so later. Once, early in my ministry, the senior pastor was gone for two weeks on a trip. This 300+ member church was left to me. Yikes!  Green. Inexperienced. Unsure. In one day I went from a funeral to a wedding to a funeral. Yep, you read that right…all in one day! It was definitely a roller coaster day.

I had one of those yesterday. I went from the high of a bike ride to spending time with a young lady and her parents about her upcoming wedding in something like 25 days.  (And yes, I showered in between!) 🙂 Her fiance is in the Marines so much has been left to them. We laughed and talked about the wedding plans, walked next door to see the outside yard it is to take place at (unless it rains), and laughed some more. I left there to visit someone who was very emotional following surgery as this person talked about their life. The surgery brought out those already raw emotions that had the person using multiple tissues. While there I met a teacher I had read to her K class for the past two years and was now at another school. We laughed and I think it was good for both of us, especially since her son was having emergency surgery. I then went to a rehab facility to visit with the person who longs to go home and had had a long tiring day of PT, ST, and OT in order to make that home going happen. I finally made my way home to my oasis.

I know that type of day is an anomaly. Some days are humdrum and normal. We all go through those days and times when life seems a tad bit out of control. Even Jesus had days like that. Within one chapter (Luke 8), He went from the high of calming a storm to healing a demoniac of possession to the low of the fear and terror of the people. He then was met by a man who asked Jesus to heal his daughter, to being interrupted by a woman who had suffered bleeding for 12 years. He healed her then moved on to the trauma of watching a father being told his daughter had died. Even then, the reaction of the mourners was laughter at His suggestion that she was not dead. He then witnessed the extreme joy of parents as He brought their child back to life. It’s no wonder Jesus needed to get off by Himself occasionally. He needed to refuel and replenish His spirit by being with His Father.

So it is with us. Those moments with His Father refreshed Him and sustained Him for whatever was on the horizon. So it was for me. The oasis of home and a wife who waits and a daughter who regales with stories from her day at school. (No names mentioned just stories). We all need that oasis. Do you have one? We were not made to keep that bowstring always taught. It has to find some “relaxation” to make it ready for its next use.