Trusting in the valleys...

God in Christ by His Spirit calls you to step out of despair into the love of His life.  He invites you to step out of darkness to walk in the brilliant sunlight of His presence and person and power. 

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." (Psa 23:4 KJV)

Death can throw a frightening shadow over us because in its presence we have no strength. We struggle with other enemies like – pain, suffering, disease, and injury – but in the end our strength and courage cannot overcome death.  Only one person can walk with us through deaths dark valley and bring us safely to the other side – the God of life our shepherd.  Because life is uncertain, we should follow this shepherd who offers us eternal comfort.

When we start “Walking with God” it means that we will eventually go through a valley or two but in these valleys is when we will learn the most about God’s grace and about our faith.  At the moment we enter into a valley, there is a feeling of arrogance that this won’t be so bad and that we will be able to handle it.  Don’t ever make the mistake of believing that a valley will ever be easy or quick to get through even though the Bible says “…count it all joy…”  (James 1:2).

When adversity does arises we begin to question God’s plan, we wonder if /how we will make it through or why we have to go through this valley. No matter what precautions you take or how together your life is or how hard you have worked to stay healthy, nothing you can do will prevent you from walking into a valley at various stages of your life. 

When God brings us to valleys there is a reason. The valley is a place where our faith will be tried; it’s a place where faith will grow to a new level, it is a place where our trust in God will become more evident in our lives and not just in our valley. And it’s a place where we become stronger for the next journey or phase that we will take.  Psalms 23 is God’s promises and this Word is a reminder that He is always near––loving, protecting, and guiding us. As our faith is tried and our dependence upon God will grow more because you will now understand that it is He that is able to bring you through these valleys. 

The valley can be thought of as your training ground, for remember that God is faithful for He is preparing your heart and renewing your mind for what He has called you to do.  But if you look for outside help, if you seek some other way to go rather than through the valley you will fail in your pursuit of finding relief. It can be a fearful feeling when you know that you are walking into a valley, that what is about to happen will be extremely unpleasant but yet it is unavoidable.

Every valley is a passageway rather than a destination to reach, just know that sooner or later all the troubles, difficulties and trials will pass. The purpose of walking with God in the valleys is clearly stated in James 1:3-4(KJ); “knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  I like how it is stated in the Living bible “when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when you endurance is fully developed; you will be strong in character and ready for anything.” Many times we cannot see God’s purpose or understand His plans while we’re in the valley because our pain is so great. This is the time when we must stand strong in our faith and on His Word and promises.

When we have lost something or someone such as a friendship, a marriage, a job, or our financial stability just for example, it can throw us off balance, the blessing of the valley is, the deeper our valley then the greater the work of God will be in it and in our lives. The key word to grasp in James 1:4 is “perfection” meaning full growth, as men and not children, thoroughly instructed and deeply experienced”.  From our experiences in the valley’s as well as the mountain tops we find that God is the one who controls the length of time we spend in a valley but if and in our stubbornness, self-will, pride, arrogance, etc will not yield to the obedience of God then it only lengthens the suffering in the valley.

Valleys are not an easy trip to take and when we don’t handle the hardship well in a valley, what we are saying is that we are afraid of trusting God completely to bring us out of this valley, which in turn will only delay our deliverance as stated above. We panic in the face of difficulties, we are looking at what lays before us instead of who is with us and that He has ALL power in His hand.

We must find the reassurance needed to make it through the valleys, from the Word of God, through prayer, through obedience and through surrender.  This is the time that regardless of circumstances we need to rely on God, know that no matter what, the Father will provide for us as He says “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters” (Ps. 23:2). God tells us that: "Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Ps. 119:105) so in difficult times we can trust its truth to protect us from making wrong choices and bring us some comfort till we come out of the valley.

How do we handle a valley? One way is to surrender your life to God, give Him complete control of your thoughts, your attitudes and your heart.  Then you must believe the Lord will use this opportunity for good just as Joseph went through in order to help a nation of people through his distress God turned it for good.  Then rest, knowing that He is Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent, so He knows where you are as well as what is happening.  Finally, be thankful to God "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you " (1Th. 5:18) for brining you into this valley for it’s in the valley that the greatest life’s lessons are learned.

Be bless

Nina Jenkins