Valleys

I’ve been experiencing a valley in my spiritual life the past few months. It’s not something completely new to me; I’ve had them before. I recognize it as part of the normal ebb and flow of the spiritual journey. But this valley has been much deeper than all the others. It really shook me to my core and tested me to the point that I thought I wouldn’t survive it or ever come out of it. Many times, I was ready to throw in the towel and forsake my faith altogether. Though I was praying more earnestly than I ever had before in my life, it only made the silence I felt from God more difficult to make sense of. The doubt that crept in was almost too much to bear. And I’m not completely out of the woods yet either. I’m still working through some of the confusion, pain, and uncertainty associated with the whole experience. But my resolve is as strong as ever. My desire to know God and for Him to be real and at work in my life is unmatched with any other time in my past. And I suspect this to be the reason we have valleys in our lives—to make us stronger as we become so keenly aware of our weakness.

Starting this week, I’m going to begin to look back and read some of the things I wrote during this season. I’ll share some of them on here—as long as I can make sense of them at least. Maybe the honesty in my struggles and rawness of emotion will resonate with some of you and remind you that you’re not alone in the valleys you face. So stay tuned. Round one in the valley series is coming soon.