WHERE THE VALLEY GROWS

When I speak of valleys I’m referring to the circumstances we face that challenge us in some way. While not all valleys are necessarily bad, they are all different in some ways. And some people manage to avoid certain valleys while others only seem to manage to survive one long enough to enter another.

A few years ago I had a pastor tell me that he understood valleys were part of the life of faith, but that he was convinced you could “control” them. It was perhaps not the best choice of statements to make in my opinion.

For his life sure seemed to fall into some very long valleys after that. Eventually he even ended up leaving the ministry. From what I understand he is today a very bitter and unhappy person.

That isn’t to say everyone will have the same experience, merely that in his situation it seems that God put him in a position that hopefully was to teach him the fallacy of such a theory. At least it appears he didn’t gain from the lesson, but that again is just an impression.

From a spiritual viewpoint to me valleys and mountains are only apart of the “landscape” of faith. By that I mean the “sights” or scenery we encounter that either drives us to trust God more or in the opposite direction.

What is interesting to me is that we all travel the same landscape in terms of having struggles, highs and lows. Not being a believer doesn’t mean you will be issued some pass to hitch a ride on a cloud. I’m sure there are plenty that keep trying to find the ticket office, but so far I doubt they have located it.

Meanwhile the journey continues. We either learn and rejoice in the process or we use it as a reason to let ourselves die in some way spiritually.

I remember the other day listening to a Pastor speaking of how great he felt it was that a person had a chance to live a life in some low paying dead end job. I found it interesting that he shared that opinion, but wasn’t about to give up being a minister to choice that option for himself.

I personally have always had trouble coping emotionally with people who want to demean my own valley. They want to make it seem like it isn’t really a problem even though they are on the mountain top and never even been in that kind of valley.

My heart truly goes out to anyone who is struggling with any valley even if to somebody else it seems an easy path to follow. And to those who are passing through such an experience we know God is there even if it is hard to see his presence in the barren and scorching heat of our moment of doubt.

May God grant all who seek him the strength to keep on the path of where the valley grows in his or her own life. Plus the blessing of having his spirit grace us with the wind of refreshing when we feel the most exhausted and ready to quit.