Down In The ValleyFran P.This past year I turned 50, which while I did not go into a depression nor any kind of agecrisis, I did look back over my life retrospectively. There are great regrets thathappened before I started walking with Yeshua. I look back from when I believed to now,and wonder, have I made a difference? Did I impact any lives? What contributions have Igiven? Do I have regrets since walking with Him? What He pointed out to me ratherquickly, “You have too many “I” statements. You’re talking all about yourself. Look backagain, and look for Me.” And with a changed perspective, I looked back over my life. I sawa different picture, one not focused on me, but on all the wonderful blessings I receivedfrom Him simply because I was His.When I looked at my life, the times of most blessings, was a time not on the mountain top,but down in the valley. So many times the valley was so hard to get through, and Iremember praying for His help to get me out of that time, and fast! How often asbelievers do we hope to get out of that valley, the tough times, as fast as He can do it sothat we can be at the top of the mountain? I know in my life, there were so many times Iprayed for relief of the struggle. These are some comments I’ve said and have heardother believers say:“My life would be perfect except for this hard time.”“I feel that G-d has kept me in this valley too long.”“Was there a break between the struggles in my life? I missed it!”We also use “If only” a lot:If only my husband had a job....If only I didn’t have health problemsIf only I could find the right husband or wife.... right friend.... right church... rightwhatever....then I could get through these struggles lickety split.When we say things like that, we close the door to huge amounts of blessings and spiritualfood from G-d. We miss out on the richness the valleys have to offer us. So long wespend time looking past the struggle, that we don’t see first, what He’s trying to teach us,and second, we miss blessings there by trying to rush through the valley.Look at a picture of a mountain. At the top of the mountain, what is there? There’s snowand rocks. There’s no food, no shelter, no trees, no running water. Yet we long for themountain top, to see miles ahead, and the beauty of the world around us. We look down atthe valley we just rose out of, and breathe a sigh of relief... whew, I’m through that time,glad it’s over! Yet, without the nurishment in those valleys, we would never make it to the••••••

mountaintop. Now in the valley, there’s food with the plants, fruits and animals. There’sshelter among the trees, richness of soil, running water. In life, our valleys are a time toget fed by G-d to not only get through the valley, but to rise above, stronger than whenwe entered the valley. It’s a time when our faith is tested and stretched, sometimes muchfurther than we thought we could be stretched!How do we get through the valleys? PREPARE FOR THEM. As my pastor says, if you aren’tin a trial now, and just coming out of one, be prepared, ones on the way and it has yourname on it. And, if there’s not one coming, you best look at your life and see why you aren’ta threat to the enemy! There are so many traps in the valley, places to watch out for, howcan we prepare? There are several steps I’ve taken to get through those times.* Pray and Read His Word.* Pray, Read His Word and listen for His answer. I try not to assume what His answerwill be. I’ve done that in the past. It hasn’t worked well for me.* Pray. Prepare for the valley when you aren’t in it! A soldier doesn’t go into battle,THEN put his armor on. No, he puts on his armor first, then goes into battle.* Pray. (yes, you sense a theme here) Remember to have your weapons ready- His Word.This can be done in a number of ways. In my house, we have verses posted in thehouse that bring my focus back to Him. I have spiral index cards with bible verseson them. Don’t be surprised to find them throughout my house!* Pray. Enlist the help of other believers. DO NOT Expect help from unbelievingfamily. Ask His family to pray with you always. Ask a friend to hold you accountablethat you are keeping God first, and that when your attitude is not what it shouldbe, to lovingly share that with you, and also provide you with someone to lean onwhen you need to let the emotional energy go.(I have a very select few friends that I enlist with my biggest struggles. I ask forprayer from all of His family regarding the struggle, but not necessarily all thedetails to all the people.)* Pray. Check my attitude. Is it where it should be? If not, fix it. If it is, move atHis leading.Pray. Look for joy in every aspect of the battle. Find Him in the struggle, and the joy will come.Pray. Remember to rejoice and be thankful that we have a God that loves us so much, toknow what’s best for us, and to give us real meaning to our lives.Pray. Remember that once we are with Him in heaven, these matters will be done. Ourlife will be like a blink of an eye, and we will be with Him in paradise.Pray. Study His Word especially those who had struggles in their own lives, and how didthey handle them and deal with them in a godly way.When looking at people in the Bible who went through times of great struggle, you don’t••••

have to go far. In the Old Testament, there’s Job of course, who went through a numberof struggles that would challenge anyone’s faith. There’s Noah... imagine the valley he andhis family were in, not just feeling like they were the only people on earth, but BEING theonly people on earth. There’s Abraham, who had his times in the valley. There’s PG’sfavorite, Moses, who I think went through many valley experiences....and desertexperiences! Imagine the valley he went through leading over a million people and suppliesthrough foreign lands, only to be forbidden to enter the Promised Lands. There’sJeremiah, who tried to walk away from his valley, only to go through it at one point, in acistern in mud up to his armpits. There’s Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo in aforeign land. I imagine they went through a valley or two. Then there’s David. Throughoutthe Psalms you read all about his valley experiences. He was chased by the king whowanted him dead. He had his son wanting to kill him ... I imagine that would put anyone intothe valley. There’s Esther, who couldn’t even admit that Mordechai was her uncle ...imagine the valley they went through knowing that Haman planned on having all the Jewskilled.In the New Testament, you can find many who had valley experiences. There’s Elizabeth,childless...I can only imagine the valley that would be for someone. To see other womenhaving babies, I imagine would be extremely difficult when you have none and desire them.There’s Joseph, who found out the woman he was betrothed to, was pregnant. Talk abouta valley! I imagine that the valley he went through was a pretty dark valley whenpresented with the options before him...to either have Mary stoned at the city gates, orsend her away from him. There’s Peter’s denial... imagine THAT valley! The imprisonmentsand beatings and other torments Yeshua’s closest went through.The best example we have, is of course, Yeshua. He had His own valley of struggle.Imagine how alone He felt in the Garden, knowing what lay ahead for Himself. Imagine thefeelings He had when His Father turned from Him as He took on the sin of the world. Talkabout the ultimate valley experience. He was alone. No one was sharing His burden. Noone was standing with Him, willing to take on what He was taking on. His followersscattered after He was arrested. That had to be an extremely difficult time, knowing youstood alone against the world.So, it’s not hard to find people who’ve had valley experiences throughout the Bible. Bylooking at their examples and in His Word, we can find ways to use the times of being inthe valleys as something more positive, and open ourselves to the blessings and richness ofthose times. I admit, I have not always seen valley experiences in a positive light. It hastaken Him leading me through the valley before I could see the richness of Himthroughout the struggle. For instance, I couldn’t see how going through abuse as a child,could ever be something positive. That valley went deep and far in my life, and how onearth can that be a good thing? Well, when I finally allowed G-d to lead me through thatvalley, it gave me the freedom to truly let go of my past, and by doing so, my wounds