01/30/2024
Most Christians envision themselves standing on a mountaintop with their arms stretched up towards the sky, and there is nothing wrong with that because it is a Holy place, but when it comes right down to it, we live out our everyday lives in the valleys. We go to the mountain, but we return home to the valley, and yet we spiritually seem to have this idea engrained in us that valleys are bad places to be. Perhaps it is because whenever we think of a valley we recall the 23rd Psalm and its reference to the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but scripture has much more to say about valleys than to tell us that death resides there too. After all, death can only reside where first there is life.
“As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.”
Numbers 24:6 KJV
So, are the valleys always bad places to be? I remember the Alps when I was a child... They were beautiful, magnificent, regal, and awesome in their towering strength... But they were hard rock capped in snow and ice. However, when you looked down from those peeks at the alpine plains and the valleys below, you saw incredible beauty... Green like none you have ever witnessed, wild flowers so amazing in diversity and color that they would bring artists to tears, lakes whose blue water made cobalt look pale, and there in the midst of them were the tiny villages and homes. Valleys aren't always bad places to be... Unless maybe you are in a battle, and your adversary has the high ground, but that is an altogether different lesson.
What does the Bible really say about valleys? I wanted to know, so I looked up every scripture that mentioned a valley, and as I thought and studied it came to me that men always lived, loved, and fought over the valleys. Valleys might metaphorically represent low places and trying times in our lives during many Sunday sermons, but they are actually where men want to live. Here are several scriptural references that make this case...
“And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.”
Genesis 26:17 KJV
“From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.”
Numbers 21:12 KJV
“And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.”
Judges 16:4 KJV
“And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.”
1 Samuel 31:7 KJV
After having read these verses and many more, we come to understand that the valley of the shadow of death is referring to where death lives.... But as we read more extensively, we see that valleys are also where men want to live too. That being said, then as we walk in the valley of the shadow of death, we are unavoidably walking through the very home of both life and death. It is in the valleys that God will provide for us, protect us, bless us, and walk with us through both life and death.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Psalm 23:4 KJV
In the valleys that we call home we need to maintain our faith in Him who protects us and gives us strength.... the one who keeps us from fainting. Life isn't all about soaring and high places... It is more about the valleys and the long hard walks that define and strengthen our faith and bring us to Jesus, and closer to God.
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”
1 Peter 4:12-14
In one of my own personal valleys I walked through a rough patch of ground. When I first heard the word Cancer it chilled me, and I brought it before the Lord with great trepidation. I looked up at the mountains and prayed for strength…. then something amazing began to happen. The fear went away and I was able to talk to others about what was happening to me, and as my prayers continued, they were joined by so many more that I couldn’t help but know that the Lord was with me. I knew that no matter what was about to happen to me, that my only requests were that it would be in accordance with His will, and that it would be for His glory. I walked with the Lord through the rough patch of ground in my valley back into the meadow… but this is life, and there will be more rough patches mixed with the incredible beauty of the valleys I will come to know.
Surviving cancer was more than a spiritual event. Ann confided that when she was faced with the reality that I wasn’t invincible, and was facing a life and death situation… she realized how much I really meant to her and the importance and frailty of our family and life together… Through her prayers she enriched our marriage and family life. Suffering and hardship tends to bring us together doesn’t it, and it occurs where we live… in the valleys of life.
It almost seems that these things should be diametrically opposed to one another, but by some mystery of life, and faith, we find that hardship and increased belief and love have a common thread.
With our lives spent mostly in the valleys, we still need to look up to the mountain tops for help. As long as we lean on God for protection and strength, and believe in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ... Then life everlasting will be our reward, and death can never defeat us. Our Christian brothers and sisters will comfort us and raise up prayers like flowers in the valley before God, and He will renew our strength. We will then mount up with wings as eagles; we will run, and not be weary; but most of all…we will walk the distance, and not faint until; at last, God will have lifted us up, and we will be standing before Him on high.
"And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.”
Exodus 19:3-4 KJV
Can we think of a time in our lives when a trial, loss, or hardship that we faced in our valley homes brought positive change to a relationship, our lives, or our righteousness, in some amazing way, and we were lifted up?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the beautiful valleys where we live, and thank you for walking with us there… even when we are facing our death. We thank you Lord for those times when you give us wings and we soar to the mountaintops to be stand with you, and to look out over all you have created. We thank you for being able to worship you in both the majesty of the high places, and amidst the splendid beauty of the valleys. In all things we praise you, and in every place we find ourselves you are there. Whether amidst the tiny edelweiss and other mountain flowers, or the lilies, and the roses of the valley, we see the awe, beauty, diversity, and wonder of you. Whether on the wing, or crawling on our bellies, we call out to you and shout Hallelujah both high and low. And we join with the heavenly host to say Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was, and is, and is to come… our God of the mountain who rules over us, and our Heavenly Father who walks with us through the valleys where we live. Abba, you bless us from the womb with your breath of life, with your constant presence, and in our death, mourning, and resurrection through Christ… in your Son Jesus we find redemption, forgiveness, and eternity with you. Merciful and full of grace are you, and in all things we give you the glory, for you are the Alpha and the Omega, the mountains and the valleys, and one day all will be one in you on earth as it is in Heaven.
“Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the uneven ground will become smooth and the rough places, a plain. And the glory of the Lord will appear, and all humanity together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Rich Forbes