All of us, at one time or another, walk through our valleys. As a young child, I didn’t understand this. A lack of understanding in a child’s mind brings fear.
I thought the valley or mine at least, was an arid, empty place; void of humans, animal life of any description; or beauty. My valley was a forbidding, lonely, scary place, where I was alone, without friends, classmates, my parents, and siblings.
It was a place of shame. Learning was not involved. The only things I saw in my valley were tumbleweeds rolling across the flat wasteland, pushed along by a lonely wind.
But does it have to be that way? We are reassured in our faith that God is always with us. Wouldn’t that hold for our time in our valleys? To me, that simple realization brings beauty to the valley, because where there is God, there is proof of His being in all of the vastness and beauty of His creations; the first bloom of flowers in Spring; a single doe searching for food in fields and meadows in the summer, on a sweet-smelling early morning, closely followed by her young fawns; butterflies; a litter of young rabbits joyously chasing each other, without a care in the world.
I’m not saying that our valleys are easy to traverse, definitely not a “walk in the park.” I believe our valleys can be a place of learning and self-discovery because He is with us, a place where if we quiet ourselves, we will hear Him more clearly. We are NOT ALONE; never alone, and NEVER FORSAKEN. Blessings, all.