4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ~ Philippians 4:4
We are taught that life is a series of hilltops and valleys … It’s either or, but not both at the same time. But that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. It might seem that way when we are on the hilltop or especially when we are in the valley. We can’t see the forest for the trees.
When all hell breaks loose against us and we can’t even seem to see a hill, much less a hilltop. It’s hard to see the good. It’s hard to stay encouraged. It’s hard to remain joyful. But to suggest that life is a series of hilltops and valleys would suggest that life is either all good or all bad.
If that is the case, if life is either 100% all good or 100% all bad at any given point of time, then how can we rejoice always if it’s all bad, 100% bad? The quick and simple answer is you can’t because there would be nothing at all to rejoice about. There is no problem rejoicing when we’re on the hilltop and life is 100% good. But how can we rejoice if life is 100% bad?
So, life is not a matter of hilltops and valleys, but rather, life is like a railroad track. Train tracks are built with two tracks so that the train rides smoothly on it. There is one track on the right side, and there’s another track on the left side, and we are the train that runs on those two tracks.
The train cannot run on just one; it needs both. It needs the two tracks to safely reach its destination. And if the train runs off the track or derails, then there is a crash, which ends in much loss of product, whatever the train is hauling, and even loss of lives.
The environment around the crash site might even be impacted by the crash, depending on the type of material and if it was toxic or not. Life is much the same way. On one side, we have the good, but on the other side, running parallel right alongside, we have the bad. And when you have a derailment in life, it can become very toxic, depending on how you handle the situation. The more anger, the more wrath, the more the environmental toxicity.
So, here is how it works. Those tracks that the train runs on, they take that train to its destination. The train cannot move without them. Likewise, the tracks of life have brought us to where we are now. It’s those ups and downs of life that have shaped, molded, and made us who we are today. The things that seem so huge, and even life-changing or life-threatening, sometimes turn out to be minimal, or at least not as impactful as it had appeared to be.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare To Always Rejoice.