In the Valley

I just started reading Ezekiel in my year long Bible reading plan.

I confess that it’s not one of my all time favorite books. I’m sorry if it is yours.

So I approached it with dread. Do you ever approach the word of God with some serious preconceived notions?

I do.

I figured I’d just rush through the reading, and check it off my box.

I expected little.

I find that I have trained myself to expect little from God. I’m afraid of disappointment. I’ve had too many unanswered prayers. I’m still in the waiting room quietly listening, watching the days pass by.

Can God be trusted? Will He do what He says He will do? Will the waiting go on forever?

In Ezekiel 3:22 the hand of the Lord came upon the prophet Ezekiel. God said this to him: “Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.”

God sent Ezekiel to the valley.

I’m familiar with the valley. I often find myself stuck in the valley.

I’d rather be on a mountain top looking over the valley from afar. I’d rather breathe the mountain air, and have uninterrupted views.

It’s harder to praise God in the valley. It’s harder to see clearly in the valley. It’s harder to live in the valley.

Yet God sent Ezekiel to the valley.

Why would God do that? Could there be purpose in the valley?

Maybe you’re finding yourself in the valley as you read this post. Maybe you’re in the valley of failure, or the valley of waiting, or maybe you find yourself in the valley of unanswered prayer. Look around you. You’ll find others there too. I’ve spent my share of time in the valley and here are 3 lessons I’ve learned about the Valley:

1. God’s presence is not restricted to the mountain top. In Ezekiel 3:23 the prophet did exactly what God asked him to. He went to the valley, and it says that “behold, the glory of the Lord stood there”. Ezekiel found God’s presence in the middle of the valley. Many of us grumble when we find ourselves in the valley, yet the same God who rules the mountain top is the one who is near you in the valley.

2. The valley is a place of vision. Have you ever talked to anyone who has climbed a mountain top? At the base of the mountain is a camp. The hikers set up camp at the base of the mountain and plan their hike upwards step by difficult step. They draw maps and gear up to face the winds and storms waiting for them ahead. It is in the valley that vision is birthed to climb the steepest mountains. Are you using your valleys to develop your vision?

3. If you can survive the valley you can survive anything. It’s true. If you can face the deepest valley and keep on going, you will likely survive anything. Oswald Chambers says this about the valley: “We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle. ” I love that. So many of us look for the peaks and the mountain top experiences in our walks with the Lord, but the Christian who will prove himself faithful and strong is the one who survives in the normal, he’s the one who understands that the ordinary stuff is what makes a man or a woman for God.

I came across this old puritan prayer recently that is worth repeating:

“Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.“

Rest, if you’re in the valley. God is nearer than you feel.

Related posts: