I’m writing right now to the sound of a torrential downpour. It’s been raining for a whole day already and doesn’t look like it will be stopping any time soon. Apparently we even had a tornado warning this morning (FYI, Hawaii doesn’t get tornadoes) and, out of all the islands, ours is the only one on the radar that’s covered in red and green.

I could say it’s a sign of the times. In the past couple of weeks our whole world has been turned upside down by these tiny little germs you can’t even see. My last post was titled “When Everything Changes” but I have to admit that might be even more fitting now. In the past week alone, we went from having four incomes to having one. Like the rest of the world, our island is in a panic, so trips to the grocery store are dreaded and far more intentional, kids that would be in school are home with family and friends scrambling to care for them, birthday and retirement parties have been cancelled, people are walking around in masks and gloves….nothing is normal any more.

This is the part where people start to feel sorry for themselves. Where they say the other shoe was bound to drop and it finally happened. That the only way to have those mountaintop experiences is to trudge through the valleys.

Well, I think that’s stupid.

Have you ever been in a valley? Like an actual valley? I have. Since moving to Kauai I’ve been able to do a lot of hiking and backpacking here and around the country and I have to tell you, valleys are awesome.

Mountain views are great, but the higher you climb, the less there is around you. There are less trees and plants and animals (and people, honestly.) When you climb a mountain, you do it for what you can see and you do it so you can say you did. There is a sense of accomplishment when your feet are hanging over the edge of that vista you’ve been dreaming of and you feel like you’ve arrived. But mountain journeys are meant to be short lived. They are not the end. You don’t just climb up there and stay. Even in mountain states, people don’t actually live at the top, they live along the slopes and around the bottom.

Why? Because life happens in the valleys. People live in the valleys. Things are green and growing and life is abundant between those mountain peaks.

Know what else is in those valleys? Water. The source of life itself is found smack dab in the middle of the valley and it’s the one thing you need to make those occasional treks to the mountaintops. You won’t find it up there most of the time, but in between those bright moments you will most definitely find everything you need to live.

So why do we fear the valley? Why do we act like the world is ending when we’re experiencing what appears to be hardship? This is real life! Jesus promised this world would have trouble, but he also promised he’d be with us, particularly in the valleys. When we’re on top of the world, it feels like it’s just us and God and all is well, and, trust me, it’s an amazing feeling, but we were never meant to stay there this side of eternity. It’s just a temporary resting place where we are reminded of the bigger picture so when we go back into the valley, where we grow and thrive, we can look back on that beautiful scene and remember where our hope lies.

When we’re in the valleys, that’s really when everything changes. That’s when we turn to the Living Water for our strength day by day. That’s when we love and help our neighbors because we’re in the valley together and we need each other to survive. That’s when we look up and marvel at the mountains around us and realize just how thoughtful and creative our God is. That’s when life happens.

At the bottom of the Waimea Canyon

In the heart of Kalalau Valley

Because everything’s changed, as we head into this valley I’m marching in with my head held high. I’m EXCITED to see what God does through this mess the world has found itself in. He is not surprised by any of it and He has promised to work everything for good for those who love Him. And he wants us to live like we believe that. He wants us to be the light in a dark time because we have a God we can trust at all times.

I was reading in Romans this morning and as I held in my hands the Word that never changes, I read this and knew I had to share with you all this morning:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Romans 4:18-21

There was no way ancient Abraham, with his barren wife Sarah, was going to be the father of many nations. There was no way he could be the father of ANY nations…but God. And Abraham was not deterred by anything. His faith didn’t waver, even when he later tied his son down and held a knife over his chest, he “did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

When we go through the valley, we have nothing to fear, because we know that our God is a God who keeps his promises. I am fully persuaded that He has the power to do what He says, so when I go through the mess of life that is the valley, I know I can trust Him. I can drink from His endless stream and reach out my hand to those around me and, even when I don’t know how anything in life is going to work out, I’m not going to worry, because He who promised is faithful.