A valley has high walls that seem huge and close in on you. It is a dark passage with limited sunlight. Valleys define the landscape, making it more rolling and rugged. Mountains and hills seem so huge and mighty, while the valley may not be noticed. But it is there, giving depth and definition.
In our lives, a valley could be the times of great despair and loneliness, filled with uncertainty. Everything goes wrong and seems out of control.
Many people in Scripture walked through valleys. We can have the assurance that we are not alone when we are in a valley. The Israelites were in the dark valley often in their wilderness experience. Daniel walked through an intense valley in the lion’s den,and still knew the Lord’s protection. Job faced a dark and lonely valley and was led through it by his great faith. The disciples walked through a valley despair after the crucifixion.
The prophet Jeremiah shows us how to change our focus from despair to hope in Lamentations 3: 19-26. “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them,and my soul is downcast within me. “ (v. 19)
But then Jeremiah changes his focus from the dismal situation to the character of God. “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Are you in a valley? Remember what Jeremiah did, and re-focus on the the Lord’s faithfulness.
July 16, 2009 at 12:01 am |
Nancy, thank you for reminding me of how I love Jeramiah’s encouraging words.
And yours of how to prepare for our “journey” through this life…both putting focus on the Lord’s faithfulness!