The Valleys

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Psalm 23:4

Everyone loves the mountaintops.

Those seasons when prayers are answered, relationships are good, the future looks bright, and life feels almost easy. We stand at the top, breathe deeply, take in the view, and wish we could stay there forever.

But mountains don't work that way.

You can't travel from one mountaintop to another without going down into the valley between them.

Life doesn’t work that way either. Between seasons of joy and celebration are seasons of disappointment, struggle, loss, and uncertainty.

Nowhere in Scripture does God promise us a life made up of one mountaintop after another. Jesus tells us to expect trouble (John 16:33). The valleys will come. But we will never walk through them alone.

We have a Shepherd who walks through them with us.

He doesn't stand on the mountaintop waiting for us to find our way back. He walks right beside us through every dark, difficult step, strengthening our faith, deepening our dependence on Him, and preparing us for whatever mountain lies ahead.

The valley is where God does some of His deepest work in us. It's where He exposes the pride we didn't know we had, the fear we've disguised as responsibility, the control we've mistaken for wisdom, and the self-reliance we've called strength. It's where shame loses its hiding places and selfishness becomes harder to ignore.

Because in the darkness, we discover how desperately we need the Shepherd.

If we lived only on the mountaintops, eventually we would stop appreciating the view. We might even start to believe we climbed there by ourselves. But valleys have a way of reminding us how little we control and how much we need Jesus.

And when we find ourselves standing on the next mountaintop, the view looks different.

We know what it is to walk in darkness and discover that He was still there. We know what it is to have our strength run out and discover that His never does. We know that the same Shepherd who stands beside us on the mountain is the One who stayed beside us every step through the valley.

The mountaintops may give you beautiful views.

But the valleys give you deeper roots.

So don't mistake the valley for abandonment. Don't assume that because the path descended, you've somehow wandered outside God's care. Keep walking. Stay close to the Shepherd. Let Him do the work in you that can only be done there.

Your valleys don’t get the final word.

Your Shepherd does.

You are loved!