Ups and Downs at a Higher Elevation

“My wife and I once traveled from San Antonio in Texas to Mexico City. South of the muddy Rio Grande border, we found the plains of northern Mexico very dusty, dirty, hot, mosquito-infested, water-polluted and generally miserable. Up and down we went, along the dusty roads, through shabby towns, up and down but never out of the summer discomfort of the tierra caliente of Mexico.

At long last we reached the little town of Tamazunchale (nicknamed Thomas and Charlie by gringo tourists) where the road began to climb up through the mountains to the wonderful plateau of Mexico, the delightful tierra temprada where the air was clear, the nights cool, the mosquitoes few, the water pure, and the general conditions bracing. So we continued at an elevation of seven thousand feet, up and down but always much, much higher than the highest part of the plains, until we reached the capital city in the “Bowl of the Gods”.

The Victorious Life has its ups and downs, but at an elevation far removed from the depressing ups and downs of the carnal life. There is a plateau of high and holy Christian living. ‘Lord, lift me up, and let me stand by faith on heaven’s tableland!’”

J. Edwin Orr, Chapter 10, “Sanctification Threefold.” Full Surrender.