She told me the loneliness seemed to loom around every corner and left her feeling like she was sinking. My friend, who had recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer, was in a deep valley, and having a hard time looking up. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she asked, “Is there any way out of this valley?”After she shared how broken she felt, we sat in silence. My heart was hurting along with hers, so I held her hand and whispered a prayer. I’ve heard the word valley many times this year, and several of my friends know the place well. I’ve also been there in the past months. It’s hard to pick up the pieces of our brokenness and climb out. During a recent valley, I asked God to reveal what He wanted in this season. Why had I landed there? What was the purpose? It wasn’t long before God met my cry with some answers.
You can’t plan valleys or add them to your schedule. They come out of nowhere, always at the worst time. Is there ever a good time for a valley? I’m reminded how God assured Moses that he would be with him when it was time to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. God said, “I will personally go with you Moses, and I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you.” Exodus 33:14. I like Moses’ reply in verse 15: “If you don’t personally go with us, then don’t make us leave this place.” I agree with Moses. When I am going to unfamiliar places, I want God with me. It’s comforting that He never asks us to go through valleys alone. One of my favorite promises is in Psalm 23:4, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid because you are close beside me.” David refused to fear during those dark valleys. Earlier in the Psalm, David refers to God in the third person: “The Lord is my shepherd. He makes me lie down. He leads me. He guides me.” But when David gets to the dark valley, he switches his language to second person: “For you are with me.” In verse four, it gets more personal. David sees a dark place ahead, and he reaches out for God’s hand. That’s an intimate picture of how God wants us to regard Him when we are in the valley. We can reach out our hand for Him without hesitation, knowing He is close and ready to walk the unfamiliar path with us.
I’m learning how necessary the valleys are. There is preparation within them, and a stretching space. They change our perspective, and while we are there, God leads us to new
levels. He transforms the valleys into a gateway of hope, increase, and favor. God is the God of valleys, and He does strategic, purposeful work that can only be accomplished in that place. The valleys help us appreciate the mountaintops that we have experienced–and will experience again. The valleys are temporary, and within them, God doesn’t waste the pain. He uses it to take us to a higher place.
levels. He transforms the valleys into a gateway of hope, increase, and favor. God is the God of valleys, and He does strategic, purposeful work that can only be accomplished in that place. The valleys help us appreciate the mountaintops that we have experienced–and will experience again. The valleys are temporary, and within them, God doesn’t waste the pain. He uses it to take us to a higher place. As I walk beside my friend through her cancer journey, I’ve witnessed her reach out her hand to God many times. And each time He has taken it and led her to a beautiful place. She told me she feels more covering and closeness with her Savior in this valley than ever before. She’s walking through a broken place, and, like David, referring to God in the second person. You are with me. God is holding her, and someday she will look back on this journey from the top of the mountain. She and I talk about valleys and mountaintops a lot these days. Mountaintops are wonderful, but valleys are merciful places where we learn to hold God’s hand. We need both, but we especially need the assurance that He has already traversed the valley ahead of us.
As we finished our coffee and were about to say our goodbyes, my friend looked at me with a tear in her eye. “Lisa, I’ll take this valley with Jesus any day over a mountaintop without him.”
I couldn’t have said it better.
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