Fear, guilt, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, out of control…
These are often our feelings when life takes a turn for the worse. A person we love is very ill, our spouse wants a divorce, we are facing a lay off or foreclosure. The Bible is clear that we are to expect trouble, but that fact is not the point. The point is God’s promise in spite of that fact. And that promise is peace.
I have told you these things, so that IN ME you may have PEACE. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD. John 16:33
God changed my perspective of the valley through the story of Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 16. Paul and Silas were unfairly treated, beaten and imprisoned, yet they sang and gave praise. I see our troubles as “prison” or “the valley”. If Paul and Silas can sing in their “prison or valley” and God loves me as much as He loved them, then I can sing and praise God in my valley too.
So I can expect trouble. It will happen. But so often we believe that healing means the absence of trouble. That we would no longer have negative emotions when a certain situation shows it’s ugly head again because we have been healed. And if I do have those emotions again, does that mean I have not been healed?
Well, I offer you a challenge...
What if we choose to see trouble or that old familiar negative emotion as an opportunity?
Enter in surrender. Surrender to a sold out belief that God really does have your best in mind through every situation. You see, He knew we would have trouble and prepared us ahead of time. He’s given us what we need to have peace in the valley. Can He stop or prevent the trouble, yes. And this a truth you will have to wrestle with Him on until you come to a place to belief and trust that HE IS STILL GOOD if he does not heal or restore.
If you reject this before you’ve explored it because the pain is too deep, then you prolong your journey toward healing and push away your only true source for healing. What parent who has lost a child hasn’t had to wrestle with the thoughts of, “How can losing my baby be for my good? How can it be Your will?” I can’t even write that with out tearing up in compassion for you. Please believe that God did not cause your child to die, your spouse or parent to abuse you, but He never left you while you suffered. You were not and never have been left to suffer alone.
Understand that it was never meant to be this way. We have a choice to abuse or not and death comes to all of us. You can only come to a place of peace and healing when you spend time with Him working through the "why” He allowed it when He could have stopped it. I wonder if Jesus had that thought when He asked God “why have your forsaken Me” on the cross. You have to come close to Him to get that question answered. And this is where the work in the valley begins.
So how do we work through this valley then?
We change our perspective of it’s purpose. God did not create trouble for you, but He promised to bring good out of it IF you will allow Him to. So the valley is now a place where more freedom can come because God is there with us.
I’ll give you an example from my own life. My brother was the most charming and charismatic human being I knew. Teasing was his love language and laughter was his gift to us all. But God brought him home to heaven when he was only 41 years old. Probably one of the darkest valleys for us to endure is the loss of a loved one. In that valley we had to trust that God is still good, that He still has a plan and that He is still in control. Where was the good? God was with me in that valley and His glory was everywhere. The life blood of our Heavenly Father, his people, were touched by my brothers life for 41 years. You see it wasn’t that we only had 41 years, it was that we HAD 41 years to be blessed, enriched and loved by my brother. And to make it even more glorious parts of that amazing man have been able to help others live their lives through organ donation. Someone, somewhere has my brothers heart and if you knew him, then you’d know what a gift that is. I’ll miss him every day until I see him again, but that is just a minor issue in comparison to the eternity I get to spend with him. In the mean time, God is not finished with me yet.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I FEAR NOT for GOD IS WITH ME. Psalm 23:4
Because of these truths, I no longer fear the valley. Yuck will come, but I know who my God is and what His promises to me are.
And we know that in ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28