Valleys

I wish I could change reality. I have watched people and reflected on my own life a great deal over the last few decades and I have noticed something: we grow most when we are in difficult times (the valleys). Nothing drives us to our knees in prayer like hardship and pain. Nothing teaches more about faith than struggles. The valleys are the cultivating soils of the soul.

I wish it were the mountains. Oh, how I wish that when we were on the mountaintops of life, we learned and prayed and hungered for the Lord. But my own observation has not borne that out as reality. We take for granted the blessings when we’re on the “mountaintops” of life. Things go well, life has joy, circumstances are positive, and we easily forget God. It’s human nature. It was true for Israel centuries ago; it’s true for us now. I wish I could change that reality.

One of the songs we often sing has a line that is always encouraging to me:

But the God of the Mountain is the Lord of the valley. . .

He leads us through difficult times and I think we experience Him most powerfully then because we NEED Him, and we have no option but to trust Him. And faith has never been about mustering up a lot of deeds that impress Him; faith is all about TRUSTING HIM and leaning into Him. We most naturally do that when we are struggling.

So if you are in a valley right now, take heart. God could do His most powerful work in your heart in the days ahead!