November 7 2018
Before Launch, my squad leader Davante called me and we had a check in to see how I was doing after training camp. During this call, he asked me to ask the Lord what He wanted to show me. And while asking the Lord in that moment, He showed me a clear picture of a valley with a little bit of darkness in the back and light peering out of it. I told Davante and didn’t really think anything of it because of the stereotypical Christian valley that everyone talks about.
A month later, we’re in Swaziland on our first day of ministry and as we turned the corner, the vision God gave me became a reality. I saw my valley and I was shocked. It was a holy crap slap in the face of a promise that the Lord had given me and I had thought nothing of it. The first couple weeks in Swaziland, I started doubting this is where I was supposed to be. It was so reaffirming to how the Lord had been guiding me to this point and this was the place I was supposed to be.
A couple weeks later during worship, the Lord spoke to me again about this valley. He said, “Sophie, I defend your valleys” and then “Sophie, I fill your valleys.” I was shook. First, the Lord has never talked to me in that way before. Second, with the very very limited WiFi there was no way for me to research more about this. But I dug into the Bible, flipped to the glossary, and looked up all the verses about valleys.
In Isaiah 40:4 it says, “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley.” Scripture reaffirmed what the Lord had said to me and that was so freaking sweet.
At debrief I had a day where I stayed at out hostel and read all about valleys and asked the Lord to show me what this valley in my life was. And like always, He did. Hosea 2:14-15 in the Message says, “And now, here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to start all over again. I’m taking her back out into the wilderness where we had our first date, and I’ll court her. I’ll give her bouquets of roses. I’ll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope. She’ll respond like she did as a young girl, those days when she was fresh out of Egypt.
And this is what the Lord revealed to me about my valley in Swaziland, He and I were starting fresh. He took me specifically to this place to be renewed and learn how to abide in Him. He’s telling me that I’m chosen by Him and He calls me worthy and blameless. He’s turning all my past heartbreaks with friends, family, all sorts of people and He’s calling me deeper into Him. He’s pruning me and picking out the things that didn’t need to be there. Here in Swaziland, I’ve realized how important this is. In order for me to love all these beautiful people in all these countries, I need to abide in the truth about my Father and the truth of what He says about me.
Through the valley of forgiveness, newness, and hard times I’ve learned how to abide in truth, grace, and abundant love the Lord has already given to us.
p.s. this is the valley I see everyday at ministry
