Solitude, the master of a valley, predominates the silence of the place. No outside voices, noises, only the mind working the past and dreaming the future. It is the place to get near our God. In prayer and anguish of the soul, we very much depend on Him to alleviate the heavy burden that took us over there. However, it is transient or impermanent as we must go through it to reach our final destination. Many of us give up, without the strength to go on, because our spiritual and mental situations are rachitic and in need of help from above, where our help comes from. But it is precisely in the valley that we receive our strength. It is there that we are broken and more willing to listen. If you and I want to know our God, the valley is a good place to be.
When David was in the wilderness of Judah, he wrote Psalm 63, which reads, God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is… My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me… (verses 1,8). Many of David’s psalms are based on his experiences in the wilderness or valley. Painful as it was, he never forsook God. His beliefs were firmed on his faith that God existed and that He answers prayers. He understood the benefits of suffering, as he reflected while facing the wilderness or valley. He said, It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Your statute; before I was afflicted I went astray, but now Your word do I keep (Ps. 119:67,71). He used the challenges before him to acknowledge God’s faithfulness and love. His life was a testimony of endurance in his faith in all the psalms we read. God’s purpose for every believer in suffering is to equip each of us to get to know Him. Without the valleys and wildernesses of life, we would not know our God’s faithfulness, His compassion, and all that that His attributes denote. It is said, “No pain, no gain.” A Christian that has had all without going through deserts and valleys, it is a Christian that does not know God. Or better yet, he is not a Christian at all. The valleys have their twists and uncertainties, they have a way to change and break us; it is in the valley that we are molded, fulfilling God’s purpose for our life.
Light from the Word 