Grateful For A Bad Year

The funny thing about walking through the valleys in our lives, is how we feel at the other end. I just walked through a valley and I’m so grateful to God for what I went through.

That’s the funny part. If God would have approached me in the beginning and said, “I’ve got a proposal for you. This year you will try and find a job, but get absolutely no where. You will receive rejection after rejection until you actually will physically hurt. You will began to question everything you’ve done for the past twenty years. You will began to question whether I love you or not. Everyday, you will feel lower than the day before. Sometimes, you will question if I ever cared for you. You will feel stressed and utterly alone. How would you like that?”

I wouldn’t have to think about that for any length of time. “Um, no thank you, Lord.” But that’s just it. God never asks us in the beginning. We would all say no. Walking through the valley isn’t fun. It isn’t something to look forward to. But God, in His infinite wisdom and love for us, takes us THROUGH the valley, then helps us at the other end. We look back and we see God’s fingerprints on everything we went through. We see those footprints in the sand, where He carried us. Hindsight is twenty/twenty. It all makes sense. And we see ourselves: stronger, more humble, gentler, and soooo grateful. We came out the other end. We are still alive. Our vision is sharper and more vivid of who God really is.

But to get to that place, we must all walk through the valley. Like a diamond that requires huge amounts of pressure to become a diamond, so we too, must experience pressure to become more refined. God wants to refine us. He wants to make us more like Him. The more pressure a diamond is under, the more beautiful and clear it becomes. The more pressure, the less flaws. So are we like diamonds. The more pressure we experience, the more valleys we walk through, the more refined we become. That’s what God wants from all believers.

My son asked me the other day about finding a job this year. I found myself answering him, saying, “Well I had to go through things this past year. This year is different.” My son probably didn’t understand a word I said. I said it more for myself and God. I was acknowledging God and what I went through this year. I felt grateful to Him for this entire year. I’ve been feeling so very grateful everyday.

So believer, if you’re not going through a valley right now, you will be. All of us do. You won’t know it’s coming. I can tell you, from coming out the other side, fasten your seatbelt, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. But you do have a Savior who loves you. Whatever you do, don’t forget He loves you. Hang onto those truths and you will be okay. It’s great on the other side.