"Valley"
I have come through many valleys,
Where the way was dark and bleak,
Sometimes I thought I‘d stay there,
God’s path was hard to seek.
The trouble is the tempter,
Will lie to you and say,
That you never will feel better,
It will always be this way.
But spur on up, my brother,
Don’t listen to the lie,
Keep that pony travelin’,
You ain’t about to die.
Down in that old valley,
‘Cause Jesus is your lead,
And He is right there with you,
With everything you need.
To make it through the valley,
To learn what you need to,
And ‘cause you came on through it,
God uses it to do,
What will be your calling,
The assignment and next step,
Of faith along your journey,
The valley was your prep.
And now you see the reason,
What you couldn’t see before,
To teach you what you needed,
To find God’s open door.
And others who are traveling,
Through that old dreary place,
You can be the reason,
They step up their slow pace.
And come on through like you did,
You helped ‘em find the way,
The valley did not stop you,
You found a brand new day.
“Even when I walk through the darkest valley, i will not be afraid, for You are close beside me…” (Psalm 23:4, NLT)
The hardest thing to remember when you go through a dark valley is that God is with you. That’s because we don’t feel God’s presence there. What do we feel? Depression, discouragement, uncertainty, worry- all these come to mind. But God’s presence does not depend on our feelings. He is always there, and knowing this is true makes a huge difference. When our feelings are low, remember it. He has promised to never leave or forsake us. His Spirit is with us and within us, and will give us the strength we need to keep on going. That’s the key: keep on going. You will not always feel like you do now. It will not always be this way. Your are going through this to a better place, and He is with you all the way.
Lord, help us remember Your presence, in Jesus’ name.
Art by Mark Maggiori, markmaggiori.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.