The Dark Valley

The Dark Valley.

A place most of us frequent through the ups and downs of life. A place inescapable as a believer. It looms, it attempts to scare, and as a valley does... it can bring you awfully low. Sometimes, we go many great seasons before the Valley. Sometimes, we go through what appears valley after valley in a cyclic pattern. Either way, at some point, we all walk in or through it.

Today, I woke up helpless. Lost. Broken, scattered pieces. Completely empty-handed. Feelings consuming me, I laced my shoes, and walked. And walked. Trying to out walk the feelings. Let the irritation, the overwhelming sadness and despair fall behind me before consuming me. But I... just... couldn't... shake it.

I stopped.
I rested my hands and head on the chain-link fence of the park.
I spoke.
I couldn't move.

My heart feels shattered. My body feels but an empty shell of a life once held. How can I feel so much despair as a believer? Aren't I always supposed to be brimming with hope and joy because the Holy Spirit lives and breathes in me?

No.

My mind was called to the Psalms. The echoes of sheer despair bouncing off the looming canyon walls of the psalmists who walked these dark valleys before me. They didn't shy away from the negative feelings regarding their life. But as they cried out, they walked. They didn't just sit in the valley, they walked. How do I know they kept walking? Because they kept calling to mind, the reality of God. God is real. God is their God. God is the Great I AM. All things God is. And in that truth as they spit their frustrations, heartaches, empty souls into the still-cold air, they find heat to sustain them in the night. They discover vision just enough.

And they walk.

Today, I am walking. The Dark Valley is present and real. But so is my God.

And if there's one thing I am most sure of in this uncertain life I lead, it is simply this:

God knows me. He made me. He loves me. I.AM.HIS.

My prayer as I find my soul empty: 2 Thessalonians 3:5 "May the Lord directs your hearts to God's love and Christ's endurance".

Yes, I want His love as my presence. And His endurance as my sustaining grace.

He is my God. Of that alone I am sure.

We may be broken, and empty-handed, but we are never forsaken.
I love the truth. Proclaim the truth in your life no matter the mountain high you may be on or the low dark bottom of the valley. He is with you always leading, guiding, loving.