There's Struggle in the Valley, but it Doesn't Last Forever.
Several years ago my family decided to make the trek up a high peak in the continental divide. I had heard tales of our son's adventures up these mountains and I wanted to experience it. I had no idea though how much it would whip me. I thought I was in pretty good shape, but I soon discovered I wasn't entirely ready for what this mountain held. It's rugged cliffs and inclines challenged me every step of the way and the closer we got to the top the more I wanted to turn back. I'm not sure if it was the view behind me, which looked so far away or the deep desire I had to stand on a mountain top that kept me going -whatever it was, it gave me what I needed to keep climbing.
And sometimes, that's how life is.
Somedays, life can feel like it’s woken us up climbing an enormous mountain and we don’t know if we have what it’s going to take. Lately. Joe and I have been catching glimpses of our reflections and we both keep wondering who the stranger is staring back at us. We've caught ourselves not recognizing the person in the mirror multiple times.
Because valleys have a way of weathering us. And honestly I sometimes don't know what's worse the hard thing we're experiencing or the feeling that we're in it alone.
Because we can all get lost sometimes walking through suffering. We get a bit confused and overwhelmed as we wander through our days, and we find ourselves feeling alone while we walk through the dark valley.
I know because I've felt this lately.
And no matter the amount of texts we receive or the kind words spoken....the way people have loved us has been humbling, but there's still some places God leads us alone.
And I think that's because the mountaintops are what we climb to see God; but the valley is where God meets us.
It's in the valley that God reassures us we can make it through. He doesn't beckon us from the other side of the valley or watch us while we suffer through the valley - God walks WITH us through the valley.
I know it’s hard to imagine that God leads us into valleys sometimes. It’s honestly hard to understand this. We'd rather believe it’s a place we wander into when we're lost.
But I believe differently, because some days we will be led into a hard valley. They show up in our lives at the most unpredictable times, usually when we don't really have time for them and we'd rather walk around them, but the valley is a place that we all will one day walk through.
Valleys always show up at the wrong time and in the wrong way. And it doesn't make a difference how good we are or if we've eaten all the right things or kept ourselves in good shape, because valleys aren't choosy and they're and they’re not predictable either.They don't pick one ethnicity, or one gender or even those in a certain pay scale, no one's exempt from them. Valleys are hard and none of us make it through life without picking up a few scratches and scars from a season through the valley. And our scars tell of how God brought us through and of how we survived.
In this season, one of the craziest things is the people we've been meeting, pushing through hard times of their own. Its always been humbling as people crack open their hearts and share their stories when they’re watching yours breaking in front of them. Its as if being in a valley with someone else makes it more survivable. I believe it's because in the depth of each soul lies an innate desire to know we'll be okay and we’re not alone. And when our pain meets people in these places, there’s something sacred about our collective pain intertwining that gives us all the strength to keep fighting. It somehow gives purpose to our pain and lets our aches find a tinge of relief.
This can be a little tricky though as we can think our wounds are healed when God's just letting the bleeding stop for a bit.
And friend, if you're out there hurting and wandering in a valley of your own...I want you to know you're not alone. Even if, you're in the middle of a raging storm, know that all storms come to an end and you WILL be okay. Even though each of our storms will end differently, they will end and you will survive.
In fact, one day you will show another hurting friend your scars and you will be the ONE who breathes life into their lungs. I know this, because I've experienced the beauty of this and I know you will too!
Friend, there is a big difference between 'feeling' broken and living broken. Those aching feelings you and I experience don't truly make us broken, they make us REAL. And although being real hurts and sometimes feels like we're bleeding all over our people, its okay bleeding means we are alive. And although being real, is vulnerable its here we find deep connection as we connect people to God.
And It's here within his blood that people find LIFE.
And truthfully...
Valleys are best spent with God; because the people we meet there are designed for his purpose. Two souls somehow beautifully find each other in brokenness and we find we desperately need God MORE than we even need one another, because no other human can ever make us whole, only God can do this.
Valleys aren't meant to swallow us up, but rather a place to meet God within.Yes, we will struggle in the valley and we will even cry out in the valley, but God won't ever leave us in the valley...because the valley is only temporary, it's not a place we'll ever call home.