Life is full of mountain highs and valley lows. There are seasons where we feel on top of the world. Maybe as you read this you are celebrating the new birth of a baby, a promotion to a job, or the retirement of your dreams. I rejoice with you for the joy are currently experiencing! I also know some will read this devotional and be in a valley season. Maybe you are grieving the death of a loved one, the loss of a career, or a sickness in your own body. I sympathize with where you are at, I have too been there. Often, when we walk through the valley, it is difficult to see the hand of God in our situation. At one point or another, we will all be in a valley season, and when we are, it is necessary to know that God meets us there.
When my oldest son was born, my husband and I walked through a valley season. Our precious newborn spent days in the NICU undergoing tests and procedures to determine what was wrong with his body. At first, I felt like God had abandoned us. I remember crying out to God asking Him to heal our son. As we prayed, God began to speak, reminding me He was near and was working. One of the ways He spoke was through His Word. Whenever I would feel discouraged, God would point me to specific passages in Scripture that would breathe life and hope back into me.
I learned in this season the importance of staying grounded in the Word of God in the valley.
Psalm 130:5 declares, I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. How comforting is that? Hope in anything else will make us anxious, afraid, and overwhelmed. The only source of true hope and peace is in His Word. When we wait for the Lord, and ground ourselves in His Word, something powerful happens—we find hope.
The psalmist knew this when he declared Psalm 130. Psalm 130 is often referred to as a song of ascent. In the Psalms, there are 15 chapters that are described as Songs of Ascent (Psalm 120-134). These were songs that the Hebrew people sang on their way to Jerusalem for times of celebration and festivals (mountaintop moments). But these songs weren’t just sung on the mountaintop, they were sung in the valley and on the journey. They were songs that were declared while they were sweating, worn out, and tired, before they saw the victory or arrived at the destination. There is a powerful lesson there for us to learn.
I can recall time and time again when speaking His Word breathed life and hope back into my soul. When I didn’t know how to pray, His Word reminded me that the Holy Spirit would give me the words to say (Luke 12:12). When I didn’t know how I would pay all of my bills, His Word reminded me that if He cares for the sparrow, how much more will He take care of my needs (Matthew 6:26-27). And when I felt anxious and afraid, His Word reminded me I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
What are you facing today? The hope you are looking for is in His Word. Declare it just as the psalmist did. His Word is a blueprint for us. A hope for our soul. It is better than any book we will ever read, and the perfect manuscript to follow. Today, put your hope in His Word and watch how our amazing God moves.
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Scripture is quoted from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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