Strength In The Valley

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

For years now I have been crying out to God, like Paul, “Take this away from me!” Right now there is no movement, no relief. I come home and grief fills my spirit. There are areas of my life that are truly blessed and going well and there are areas crumbling around me, even as I beg for it to stop. What was once my safe place is now my place of pain. Perhaps I am not alone in feeling like this?

I may, on occasion, also have been known to boast that the only way I can do what I do is because of foundations other than God, foundations unreliable and changeable. How absurd! How conceited to think that my strength comes from things going well. How quickly He has moved to remind me that the only way any of us can do anything is but for the grace of God. The only reason I have any strength at all is because of Him!

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for YOU are with me. – Psalm 23 [emphasis added]

Yet valleys are meant to be walked through, not lived in. How do we maintain hope when those waves of doubt and despair come upon us? Don’t set up camp! When we set up camp we lose hope; we stop looking to the One who can bring us through.

Here are three things that are helping me walk through this valley:

1. Accept the Circumstances.

Accept that things are the way they are. For whatever reason, this is the place, the season, the situation you are in. Be honest with God about how you’re feeling. He LOVES vulnerability and honesty and will meet you there. It’s in those conversations He can connect with your heart. Isn’t that what David did in all those psalms he wrote?

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. – Psalm 51:17

2. Be Thankful 

Be grateful for all the good things, no matter how small: God, His faithfulness, His grace, His strength, His presence, the people in your life, the house, the car, the phone, etc. and the lessons He is and will teach you through the situation.

…because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4:14-16 

3. Confess the Promises

What is the situation you are in and what does God say regarding it? From the beginning God has been in the spoken word – the world was lifeless until God spoke the Spirit into action (Genesis 1:1-2). There is power in what we speak, both life and death. Confessing promises over our situations produces life and action into our spirit and into action.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:1-5

Here are some examples:

There is nothing more powerful than our faith and praising God in our circumstances. Like Job, let us not give up or doubt the One who gives us life, but lean into Him, for “the joy of the Lord is our strength”! (Nehemiah 8:10)

Written By: Daniella Kirk – Founder of Operation Open Eyes