Valley seasons...

by Elizabeth Stewart

Why is it that sometimes it seems as though winter is twice as long as the other seasons?  There have been years when it felt like spring would never come.  Yet, it inevitably did come.  There's never been a year that winter lasted forever. There's never been a year when spring didn't come.

There are times when a season of waiting on God for an answer to prayer or a season of testing and trial can seem to stretch on forever.  I call them the valley times.  No one chooses or enjoys being in a valley of difficulty but we all will face a valley season at one time or another.

There are two things that have helped me survive the valley seasons in my life.  The first is to keep on walking.  God never intended us to camp out or dwell in the valley. Time after time, God's word talks about us walking though the valley.  It never instructs us to pitch a tent or build a house and dwell there.  When we keep on walking, in spite of how tempting it is to lie down, give up, and quit, we will inevitably one day find ourselves walking right on out of the valley.

The second thing that has helped me to survive, and dare I say even at times to thrive, the valley season is to hold fast to hope. My hope is found in the truth and promises of God's Word.  They are my lifeline. I read them, underline them, memorize them, pray them and remind God and myself what He has promised.  I know that God is reliable, sure and faithful to His Word.  I also know that just as no winter lasts forever, no valley in my life has ever lasted forever.  Sure, some valley times lasted way longer that I would have liked, but eventually every valley season I have been through came to an end. I came out of some of the valley seasons with a few battle scars.  I came out of some of the valleys mourning losses - loss of a loved one, loss of a friendship.  But, I came out.  You see, the enemy would love to keep you living in the valley forever.  He'd love to convince you that you are a victim of the valley.  He wants you to believe that for some reason you are on the bottom of the list of God's kids.  The enemy would love to convince you that you are the Cinderella of God's family but there's no fairy godmother coming to bail you out of your awful circumstances. Remember, that the Bible is a book of opposite thinking than the world's thinking.  The world thinks an easy life is a blessed life.  However, God's family photo gallery is filled with the faces of those who went through the valley and came out victorious.  There isn't a main character in all of God's Word who didn't experience suffering. God included them in His Word for a reason.  He has given them to us as examples.  We, too, can come out on the other side of the valley victorious if we will keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep on walking, and hold on tightly to the hope that God has given us.

still following,

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