4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain. (Isaiah 40:4 ESV)

Our passage today is talking about making the way smooth for the coming messiah. However, too often this may be our prayer for ourselves. We want God to bring the valleys up and the mountains down to smooth our way. We pay no regard to how the mountains and valleys of our lives mold and shape us.

When it comes to landscapes, consider the almost insurmountable beauty of mountains and valleys. Pretty much no where on earth are more grand vistas than those that paint a picture of the grandeur of mountains and the serenely of valleys. Such is the tapestry of our lives as well.

We may wish to take the peaks and valleys of our lives and wish to make them flat plains of vast easiness. But that is not how the world or God works. A life with absolutely no adversity builds no strength. A life of constant success leads to a hollowness and an inability to really connect with life. Live too long in the rarefied air of a mountain and you begin to suffer from altitude sickness. I think this is what happens often to the wealthy and powerful, altitude sickness.

No, God built us to be resilient and to learn how to navigate both the peaks and valleys. You are stronger than you know.