 |
| A dark valley with awesome sunshine coming! |
No one walking this earth is exempt from seasons of discouragement and personal struggle. I am no exception to this rule. The past couple of months have been particularly trying for me. Though, I am not going to share my heart here, I assure you that they have been difficult at best.
Let me be clear it is not a sin to have a season of discouragement or struggle. It is only a sin if you succumb to the discouragement or struggle. Jesus came to give us life more abundantly (John 10:10). Abundantly implies that we will experience much. There will be hills and valleys. We are to expect them. To be completely honest, I really like being on the peaks of joy overlooking the beauties of life. Who doesn't? It is awesome that we have those opportunities in life! Praise Him for those times when everything seems right with the world and your life!
But...it's also awesome to have those dark times in the valley. (I can hear you now. "What? Is she on pain medication for her back again?" I can assure you I am not. My back is feeling much better. Thank you.) Note that I said it was awesome. I did not say that it was fun.
Checking the definition of awesome to ensure clarity:
awesome- an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like
Please keep in mind usually the awesome follows the valley. Although, sometimes it happens in the middle of the valley. Most often it follows. In my nearly 30 years as a Christian I have only had one experience where the awesome happened in the middle of the valley. (And let me tell you it was AWESOME!)
I will say it again. It is also awesome to have those dark times in the valley. "Why?, is your next question. Without those dark times in the valley you never truly learn to depend on God, the way He wants you to. You never truly experience His power, His divine love...HIM. Everyday I long to experience Him, to know Him more, to love Him more and feel His love more. Generally that doesn't happen on the peaks. It happens in the valleys, in those times when it seems the world doesn't know or understand the experience you are laboring through. It happens when God has allowed every other means of support to seemingly be stripped away. It's those moments in the darkest night when you have only Him to call on, that you come to know the loving, caring, Father He truly is.
Now, do not hear what I am not saying - or read what I am not typing. I am not saying that the only way to truly know God is to experience hardship and struggle. There are many ways to grow in your relationship with God and to come to know Him more. I am saying that there is something deeply profound in coming to know your heavenly Father more as you walk through the dark days. Some of the most valuable lessons I have learned on my Christian walk have been on those days. Days that have gifted me with glimpses of my heavenly Father, that I would not have experienced otherwise- the undeniable comfort of His presence in tangible ways.
Something that God keeps impressing on me over and over...and I wonder when I am actually going to get it, is that He is all I need. Uh..yeah, you knew that. So do I, but God has been making me live it to learn it. During the last couple of months I have wanted to talk to friends and mentors whose advice I consider Godly and wise, but the opportunity has not been afforded me. I never felt I could burden them with my struggle. Perhaps, that wasn't God's plan for this time. Perhaps, His plan was for me to depend on Him and Him alone... this time. There is a place for wise counsel and advice, but maybe this time it was meant to be worked out with God alone.
Though my discouragement is not completely resolved, it is resolving. It required me really getting with God and relying on God to direct me in my next steps. I really needed to tell Him like it was in my heart, not that He didn't already know. He has provided me with comfort and an ear that is always open 24/7 to hear the cries of my heart. Though in the grand scheme of things, my discouragement may seem minor, it is not minor to Him.
He loves all of us. He cares for all of us and He longs for us to cry out to Him, our Healer, our Comforter, our Father.
"But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." Psalm 59:16
A "perfect day" on the mountain!
No comments:
Post a Comment