Hidden Glory In The Low Places
Devotional Credit: My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers, entry titled “The Sphere of Humiliation.”
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Most of us love the mountaintop. It looks clear. It sounds inspiring. It feels like faith should always be that bright. Oswald Chambers reminds us that real life with Jesus is proved in the valley. After vision comes a hallway of ordinary tasks. After applause comes a sink full of dishes. The Lord who met us on the height goes with us into the humbling place where faith is not a story we tell, but a life He lives through us.
Chambers points to Mark 9. A father says, If you can do anything. Jesus replies, If you can. Everything is possible for the one who believes. On the mountain Peter wanted to stay. In the valley there was a troubled boy, a weary parent, and disciples who had tried and failed. There the Lord showed what faith looks like in street clothes. Not a pose. Not heroism. Simply dependence in the middle of real need.
We often push through the valley by our own grit and call it bravery. Chambers gently exposes that urge. God is not asking for a heroic mood. He invites us to live from union with His Son. Faith is not a surge we work up. Faith is a Person we rely on. Jesus, who shone on the mountain, is present in the everyday, forming His life in us where no one is clapping.
For those of us who hold the Scriptures with a corporate lens, this valley life is not a solo climb. We belong to one body in Christ. Our growth is not God selecting a few for higher ground while others are left behind. The Spirit builds us together in love. The ordinary streets and shared kitchens of life become places where Jesus is seen through His people. Thank you, Oswald, for helping us look for Jesus where we actually live.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I am with you in the valley, not as a distant observer but as the One who lives in you. You saw My glory on the mountain, yet I designed your steps for the plain, where love serves. The life you now live in the body is by faith in the Son of God. You were united with Him in His death and raised to walk in newness of life. Do not measure My presence by scenery. Measure it by My indwelling.
I work in you to will and to work for My good pleasure. Set your mind on things above where your life is hidden with Christ in God. Strength is perfected in weakness, so do not despise smallness, repetition, or tasks that seem beneath you. You carry this treasure in jars of clay, so that the surpassing power may be Mine, not yours. When you are pressed, you are not crushed, because I sustain you.
Abide in Me. Let My word dwell in you richly. When the day exposes your lack, remember that I have already given you every spiritual blessing in Christ. I am the Spirit of adoption in your heart, crying to the Father. I empower you to present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is not the grind of self-improvement. This is the overflow of union. I make you able to walk worthily of the Lord. I steady your steps in the valley, and I will finish what I began.
In community, I knit you together with others, causing the body to build itself up in love as each part does its work. Resist the story that you are alone. Bear one another’s burdens. In the common places of life, show the kindness of Christ. I am the One who equips you with everything good to do the Father’s will. I work in you what is pleasing in His sight. Continue with confidence. I am faithful, and I will surely do it.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of baking a simple loaf of bread. There is nothing glamorous about measuring flour, working the dough, waiting for the rise, and setting the oven. Yet, hidden inside that waiting is yeast doing its quiet work. The loaf does not puff up because you stare at it or strain harder. It rises because something living within it is active.
Today’s lesson lives the same way. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. He animates ordinary minutes with the life of Jesus. You do not need to perform or push. You yield. For example, if you face a tedious task at work, instead of forcing a brave face, whisper from the heart, Lord, I trust You to express Your patience and excellence through me in this assignment, and I will step forward as You act in me. Then proceed with a simple next step, believing that Jesus is active within you as surely as yeast is alive within the dough.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that in Jesus I already possess everything needed for life and godliness. Thank You that Your Spirit lives in me, works in me, and leads me in the plain places where love serves. I agree with You that my life is hidden with Christ in You. I affirm that Your grace is sufficient in weakness, and Your power rests on me in the tasks that no one sees. I receive this day as the place where Jesus is expressed through me. I thank You that You began this good work and You will complete it. Amen.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Mark 9:14-29. Galatians 2:20. Romans 6:1-14. Philippians 2:12-13. Colossians 3:1-3. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10. Ephesians 1:3. Romans 8:9-11. Colossians 1:27. John 15:1-11. Ephesians 4:15-16. Galatians 6:2. Hebrews 13:20-21. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. 2 Peter 1:3. Romans 12:1-2. Psalm 23:4. Colossians 3:16.