Lessons from the Valley

So, last week I was on vacation, in a valley.  One day, I paid $17 dollars to walk through a gorge, cause my imagination had me convinced that if I walked alone on any of the billion free trails that were around, I'd get lost, it would get dark, and I'd get eaten by a bear. Or a spider.

I also mentioned last week that being situated in a valley was an appropriate projection of life right now.  Valleys are different for all of us.  They can be due to loss.  To sin; our own or someone else's. They can be due to circumstances. They can be due to illness. They can be due to just plain old life.

While I was down in the $17 gorge, I noticed some things about valleys.  I think they apply to both the physical valley I was in, and all the other valleys we might find ourselves in.

It's pretty easy to get into the valley. The walk is quick, and while a few roots and rocks and stumbles might get in your way, for the most part, its a easy road. Sometimes it's even a pleasant road. 

Valleys are dark. There's not a ton of light, and it can be hard to see what's what.  You can see light trying to get in, but it can't quite permeate everything that's blocking it.

 The way out of a valley is a bit more complicated. From a little higher up, more light gets in. It doesn't have as far to travel, and things look a brighter. You notice the differences in things that all seemed like one big dark mess from at the bottom. There are still dark places, places where no light makes hits. Sometimes you think you're headed up, only to be on a path that leads you around and back down, right to where you started. I took more than one of these sneaky paths on my walk, and I have in life as well.

 

When you look up in a valley, you can see all the light that's not able to get through. But you have to look up to see it. When you do, sometimes you can seethe difference between the dark that you're in, and the light that trying to break through. Sometimes it makes you hopeful. Sometimes it makes you want to go back down, cause as we said before, that way is easier. 

When you finally make your way out of the valley, you can see all the light that was trying to make its way down. You can see that the light touches the tops of everything that has it's roots in the valley.

I'm not saying that God condones or approves or likes the things in our valleys.  I'm saying that even in our valleys, He never leaves us. If we look up, make our way up, He'll be there. And He loves us.

Brooke