The Valleys of our Lives

These past couple of weeks I have been feeling like I am riding an emotional roller coaster, up and down, sad and happy, fearful and hopeful. Today was a roller coaster in itself. This morning I felt so confident, so sure that the light was in sight...but this evening I am once more feeling like all is darkness. I don't know what I would do were it not for the love and the support of friends and family who love me, support me, and do it all unconditionally. I especially don't know how I could survive if it were not for my hope in God. How do those who lack faith do it? How do they manage to continue to take a single step without the comfort of serving a sovereign Lord? Even in the midst of this valley I am walking in, even in the midst of what my weakness calls darkness; God is with me. God lends me the comfort and the strength to know that no matter what may come, He is with me every step of the way. The world may curse me, friends may abandon me, family may even harbor doubt, but God is faithful and He is steadfast through it all. Indeed I am finding that it is not easy being a vessel of clay in the hands of a Master Potter. It is not easy to be conformed into the image of the Son. But O what joy it is to know without a shadow of a doubt that I am His! Whatever may come, I belong to Him. And do you want to know something? Even as I write this I feel comfort. I won't lie and say I feel boundless joy at my circumstances. I won't deny my heart is filled with ache right now. I will not avoid the confession that I am close to begging God to remove this cup from me. But, at the same time, I cannot escape from the fact that His Word brings me a deep sense of comfort. I have already quoted from this verse before, but it still applies:

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him"
- Job 13:15

This evening I have received comfort from another source as well. In my post earlier today I mentioned the book "A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23." Well I read the following this evening which filled my heart with a sense of anticipation at what God may have in store for me:

"Again and again I remind myself, "O God, this seems terribly tough, but I know for a fact that in the end it will prove to be the easiest and gentlest way to get me onto higher ground." Then when I thank Him for the difficult things, the dark days, I discover that He is there with me in my distress. At that point my panic, my fear, my misgivings give way t0 calm and quiet confidence in His care. Somehow, in a serene quiet way I am assured all will turn out well for my best because He is with me in the valley and things are under His control.

To come to this conviction in the Christian life is to have entered into an attitude of quiet acceptance of every adversity. It is to have moved onto higher ground with God. Knowing Him in this new and intimate manner makes life much more bearable than before...

...As Christians we will sooner or later discover that it is in the valleys of our lives that we find refreshment from God Himself. It is not until we have walked with Him through some very deep troubles that we discover He can lead us to find our refreshment in Him right there in the midst of our difficulty. We are thrilled beyond words when there comes restoration to our souls and spirits from His own gracious Spirit...

...The corollary to this is that only those who have been through such dark valleys can console, comfort or encourage others in similar situations. Often we pray or sing the hymn requesting God to make us an inspiration to someone else. We want, instinctively, to be a channel of blessing to other lives. The simple fact is that just as water can only flow in a ditch or channel or valley- so in the Christian's career, the life of God can only flow in blessing through the valleys that have been carved and cut into our own lives by excruciating experiences.

For example, the one best able to comfort another in bereavement is the person who himself has lost a loved one. The one who can best minister to a broken heart is one who has known a broken heart.

Most of us do not want valleys in our lives. We shrink from them with a sense of fear and foreboding. Yet in spite of our worst misgivings God can bring great benefit and lasting benediction to others through those valleys. Let us not always try to avoid the dark things, the distressing days. They may well prove to be the way of greatest refreshment to ourselves and those around us."

- "A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23" by Philip Keller (ISBN 0-310-21435-1) pages 77-80

Powerful words. Mr. Keller shares in this passage his own loss, for his wife died and went to be with the Lord after a two year battle with cancer. I admit that his words are hard, but he is right. How can we accept "good" things from God and then respond in anger to Him when trials come our way? No...we must bear our burdens and pray for comfort. So I end this post with a plea to anyone who might read this:
Pray urgently for me and my family. Pray that His comfort, His mercy, and His grace might fill us every day. Pray that He might choose to take this cup from me...and yet I write that it be His will and not mine that be done.

Can we do any less?