The other day we were driving up this mountain toward the coast and we had the opportunity to see some of the most amazing views. About an hour in we came across this awesome valley.
Okay so have you ever seen something so striking that you just stare at it with a loss of words, while at the same time being moved with this immense feeling of joy and peace. That was this valley for me! That’s a tall order I know but I seriously just stared at this beautiful thing God created, so green and prolific, and was overcome with this sense of awe.
In that moment God said to me “Do you see it now, the beauty in the valley?” You see, when you are in the valley, all you can see are trees in every direction and it can be overwhelming, terrifying and frustrating. I mean it all looks the same and you can’t see any way out.
We’ve all been there, probably more times that we can count. But you keep going and you finally get to the top and what a spectacular sight it is. When you are out of the valley and able to look down from the mountain you can finally see the beauty and intricacies of it’s design. It’s unique, and sometimes vast, but what a view of victory it is. You can see the change from overwhelming to breathtaking. And as annoying and frustrating as it is, you wouldn’t have such a beautiful view from the top if you didn’t first walk through the valley.
God has really been showing me the beauty in my valleys lately. Yes they were hard and painful to walk through but I am starting to see them as God sees them, a story of victory and perseverance. Weaved with my unique story I now have a beautiful picture to show others and am able to tell of it’s distinct history.
Of course life is full of continuous mountains and valleys but there is comfort in being able to see the splendor of what you have already walked through. Once you can look down and say “hey I made it through that” it makes the next one a little easier. So what breathtaking views have you created?
There is beauty in the valleys…Can you see it?
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. –2 Corinthians 12:9-10
*Isaiah 40:28-31, Isaiah 41:10, 1 Peter 4:12-13
