The Valley The Mountain and Back Again

Does it feel like your life is in the valley?

You’re spirit’s low.

Tears flow or you’re emotionally frozen.

You can’t cry.

You’re life’s like the waves of the ocean.

They come crashing down upon the rocks.

You’re like a piece of driftwood that moves where the water carries it.

You’ve lost control.

You’re tired of living this way.

You reach out for something to hold you fast.

You’re trying hard to find your path.

There’s so many obstacles in the way.

The peace of mind you seek is there at times, but then it goes away.

The struggles bring you down to the valley.

You ask the Lord, When will I see the mountain?

When will life’s storms that rage go away?

Father, I long for them to cease.

Lead me to the mountain.

Wash away my soul’s dirt and grime.

Help me to the mountain climb.

God, please draw me close to you.

You know what I’m going through.

I can’t see the mountain.

I’m stuck in the valley.

My circumstances are overwhelming me.

The water’s rising.

Darkness says I’ll drown.

I know it’s all a lie from the pit of hell.

But all my heart sees is me sinking.

I cry out to you, my Lord,

The injustices are crushing me.

The cruelty of others is constantly on my mind. I don’t want to think about them. Feed me like Elijah when he was wasting away. The ravens fed him. You used them to bring back his strength.

Elijah lived to do Your work another day.

The truth is that God is with you in the fight.

He never abandons you.

In the valley it can sure seem that way.

But in His Word we read about the God who comforts the weary.

He gives us rest, so we can be restored.

When life is getting you down, remember you can cast on God every care.

The valleys won’t go away.

People will continue to hurt you.

They’ll wound you.

The unjust will seek to have you give up.

But if you hold on to God, He’ll lead you to the mountain.

Your spirit will soar like the eagle flying through the sky.

God’s justice will rain down upon the unjust.

The ones who have abused the authority given to them

will face an accounting for their actions.
We all will.

Only God can melt stubborn hearts.

He can lead the unjust to the mountain too.

Pray for them to see how their conduct causes people agonizing emotional pain.

Assail the gates of Heaven

Pray for them to change.

God can do that.
I know.

It happened in my life.

There were people who hurt me with the things they did.

God called me to forgive them.

It was such a tough thing to do.

It’s still something I struggle with.

The Lord is teaching me how liberating it is to pray for those who’ve harmed me in some way.

There’s still those people and systems I deal with that are stuck in we’ve always done things that way.

They fail to see the truth.

They’ve become aloof.

People have said to me, “Kevin, where is their humanity?”
When they tell me how they’ve been treated, I hear in my heart they feel defeated.

I listen as best as I can.
Some days I’m better at it than others.
But I try to remember that when I feel weak, I can come to God in prayer.

I can receive His strength to be with them through the fight until they see morning’s light.

Life takes us out of the valley to ascend to the mountain, and brings us back to the valley again.

But through it all our Father leads us.

He walks with us.

He talks with us.

He is there with us through the darkness until the day.

Dr. Kevin Osborne is a Vice-President for Student Affairs for St. James the Elder University. Dr. Osborne is a doctor of theology candidate through SJTEU. He is s therapist, writer, poet, and singer. He helps people in their inner healing journey. Dr. Osborne lives in Timmins, northern Ontario, Canada, with his wife, Karen. She is the Registrar for SJTEU. Karen has a B.A. in Clinical Christian Counseling from St. James the Elder University. Karen is a writer, editor, and missionary of the heart.