Skipping along the fresh grass, the wind blowing. Wildflowers basking in the sunlight. Skyline expanding across the wide-open space. It feels like happy freedom.
Running water, no breeze. Sunlight peaks behind a mountain, but the fullness feels blocked. Looking left and right, tall land blocks you in. It feels trapped, lonely.
Meadows and valleys look very different, and maybe even feel different. After a quick search, I am starting to view both differently, and I dare say, I see similarities!
Our eyes aren’t tricking us on some levels. A meadow is an open space, void of a tree canopy. With this void comes ample sunlight for wildflowers to bloom. Wind blows freely without trees blocking it, allowing those wildflowers to be pollinated.
Valleys have a seemingly opposing look. A long, sunken area between high mountains or hills. The wind can be slow or nonexistent. Sunlight can be equally absent, sometimes hidden behind the valley’s high sides. Land and weather shape a valley; the swift-moving water that typically runs along its bottom picks up sediment and rocks, grinding its bed down year after year. Where meadows are distinctly flat, valleys form a U- or V-shape.
The first fact that stood out to me in my search is the reminder that meadows can be found IN a valley! This fact felt like a God whisper, telling me that valleys may represent hard or painful times in our lives, but they can also hold the beauty and joy of a meadow at the bottom.
Valleys, hard and painful times in our lives, can be isolating and lonely. Just like in a sunless valley, it can feel like we can’t even see God’s light in those difficult times. But when we find ourselves in meadows, easy, breezy, happy moments, we feel free. Like wildflowers blowing in the breeze and soaking up the sunlight, we can feel God’s presence move us as we bask in His Son’s light. Joyful moments seem simple and gentle, like new growth that comes easily. Painful times strangle us and make us feel cut off from God, even.
If you have spent time with God, you know that is NOT the case. As you learn more about valleys, you realize the mountainous sides that seem to block sunlight and all joy are actually protecting the river and the wildlife in the riverbed. The same is true in our lives; God may place us in a valley for many reasons, including to protect us. When we feel isolated or lonely, we never are, because God is our refuge, and we are always surrounded by the tallest, strongest mountain in God.
Whenever I feel God telling me something, I turn to Scripture to back it up and ensure my thoughts are God’s, not my own. Turning to Psalm 23, God confirms this whisper. “Yea, though I walk through the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4, KJV) David faced many challenges in his life, and this Psalm feels like a response to a difficult time, a dark valley.
Loving God, I pray that I will rely on You, just as David did, trusting in Your protection and provision in dark times. I pray that I will turn to You, God, in every moment, from peaceful meadows to dark valleys. Amen.
With faith,
Melanie Drews
Paws on God’s Path
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