In life, there are uphill and downhill. You cannot always move upward. Some days, you have to move downward. In the same way, you will not always go down. Life allows you to move upward when you hit the bottom. Ever since we were born, we always look toward the high places. It is our lifestyle to try hard to conquer the summit, and this is not a bad thing.

When we are on a high summit, we are able to see beyond what we see on the ground. From the summit, we are able to see all around and further. At the summit, we can see what we couldn't see before, and we can experience things we never experienced. However, as I always say it, the summit is a dangerous place. Higher the summit, more you are exposed and vulnerable, and the summit is cold and lack of oxygen. If you only want to stay in the high summit, you are allowing yourself to die. If you do not go down, you can freeze to death. This is why God brings harmony of ascending and descending and brings a balance within that harmony.

A person who can see all around and further becomes a leader. If you cannot see all sides and cannot see far, then you cannot lead others. Only the one who's gone on the road and know the road can become a road guide. So we recognize that a person in high position has tremendous responsibilities and calling.  However, although people want to be in high position, we know that it's not always happy to be in the high places. There are intense attack and fierce competition in the high places. A person in a high place is lonely, and he can only become a subject of envy and jealousy. He  can only be misunderstood, criticized, and slandered. The number of his enemies increase regardless of his efforts. Therefore, we must pray for the leaders.

In order for a leader to stand on a high place, he must experience the bottom. It's for this reason God allows the leaders to begin their life in the low places. Even after being risen, God sometimes strikes them down to the ground. We must balance well between high and low places. We are usually afraid of the low places, but we must remember that there are treasures to be found in the low places. There are things that we can only see in the low places and not in the high places. We can also experience different experiences from being in the low places. There is a sense of stability in the low places. The low places are restful and peaceful, and we are able to experience happiness in the low places. We can taste depth in the low places, because there is depth in the low places. As we reside in the low places, we can become deeper. Only those who have fallen to the bottom know the depth of life.

When we go down, we must go down willingly. It is miserable to be dragged down by another person; however, when we willfully go down, we are not miserable because it's out of the choice that we move. When Jesus went down on the cross, he had gone down voluntarily. The Most High One has willingly came down from the high place. Jesus came down to a manger from the heaven. He came down as a son of carpenter. And he came down even to the suffering of the cross and being hung on the cross. He even experienced of going down to the grave. He had willingly chosen a road of descension, and Jesus who had voluntarily gone down was lifted high to the heavenly throne through the power of resurrection.

In order for us to go down, we must empty ourselves and learn to abandon. We must be able to abandon all the things we had prepare to go up, and we must go down lightly instead. Antarctic explorer Shackleton and his 27 crew members had to give up on their journey about 90 miles before the destination. The expedition had to make a decision in order to survive. Shackleton shouted at his crew, "Throw away everything except for the things that you need for your survival. We're limiting our belongings to 2 pounds per person." So they threw away, and they survived. Only to those who survive, another opportunity comes along.  We can survive when we abandon. We must abandon our empty dreams, our greed, and even our dignity. We must abandon our formal glory and failures. The irony is that when we abandon we gain back. When a ship, carrying Paul, met a wind of hurricane force, called the 'northeaster,' for their survivor, those in the ship began to throw away everything on the ship. They have lighten the ship and they survived. However, abandoning is not enough for us to survive and to go up again. We must rely on God. Only God can allow us to stand back up when we hit the bottom. When God, who rescued Joseph from the pit and from the prison, helps us we can go up again. May you find such grace in the Lord.