Valley Days

I finally understood that the reason why I don't like to be in a valley is because it is so quiet. Valleys can be beautiful, filled with flowers and greenery; they can have the spring pastels and vibrant trumpets to summer, there can be autumn colors, rabbits cavorting, quick foxes, deer leaping, birds singing, or the blanket of winter, but still, even with all of that eye candy, there is silence.  My voice can echo from the mountain tops, but in the valley, I can hear myself breathe.  No matter if it is a quick walk down and then out again or if I am there for weeks, walking through to the other side and up the mountain, it is quiet.  I like quiet sometimes, but not this kind of quiet and not when I am going through the valley.  I have come to know with confidence that although there is silence, I am not alone in the valley.  I have tried to get out of the valley faster than I am supposed to one time taking a short cut, but that just left me wandering into thickets and traversing stones and rocks and ending up in the desert.  I really hate the desert, so dry, hot, vast, filled with snakes, scorpions, coyotes, scorching sun, no water, no paths to lead me home.  No, I would really rather I didn't end up in the desert.  Then there are the times that I tried to run up the side of the mountain, but have slid back down, only to start again.  Walking is best.  Really.  I know.  I tried to scale the steepest sides, figuring that would be the quickest way out, but that didn't work either.  Staying on the path, no matter how long it seems, having heart faith that He is guiding you, has always turned out to be the best way.  I remember one time before I set out through a new valley, I looked to my right and saw wolves to my right, directly above my path.  There were four of them and they just stood there watching, with their tongues hanging out, panting.  They didn't try to step my way; they just watched as I started down the path.  I forgot about them as I negotiated the steep way down, moving from rock to rock, careful not to slip and fall.   Then, later on storm clouds gathered and although it poured sheets of water, no harm came to me.  I wasn't cold, just wet and I  shook that off as I walked.  I had flowers and birds along the way, but it was quiet.  I couldn't hear the Voice I longed for.  I had to count on His promises, remembering them and letting them guide me along the way.

I don't like valleys, but at least I have learned that I am never alone, no matter how far down into the valley I have to go, or how long the valley venture lasts.  I remember one valley that was so short I could see the path up to the mountain as soon as I left off on my trip.  But for some reason, the reason I had to discover with my heart, for that reason, the way was very slow.  I have been in very long valleys, valleys that at first glance would seem to go on forever, and I have navigated them in a very short time.  Before I grew weary of the valley I was on mountain tops, with echoing  voices all around.  But no matter what, no matter where, He never left me alone.  I prefer the mountains, and I prefer not to have to deal with the valleys, but even more, I prefer not to have silence.  I need to hear His voice.  He is there for us even when we do not hear His voice, walking beside us, guiding us, watching over us.
Never doubt that He loves you; He loves us all.  Even when you can't see your way out, know that He has made a way and it is just up ahead.  Every day you wake up and start the morning, you are one day closer to standing on top of the mountain.  Greet each day with joy because He has given it to you.  You can go through the day or you can be the blessing of that day, you can be the joy that people seek, you can encourage, care, uplift others.  Be the light, be the joy, be the one.
The walk through the valley is shortest when walked with joy.  I found that even though I couldn't hear His voice, He could hear mine, and I could praise Him and I could sing.  The valley wasn't so quiet when I was singing His praises.  I could hear other praises echoing and the silence of the valley ceased.  I became the light, the song, the praise, the voice, the one.  Then the journey became the joy.