Hi, friend!
Have you ever stood by the edge of the ocean and let the salty water wash over your toes? If so, you know if you continue standing in the same spot, over time, your feet will begin to sink deeper into the wet sand causing you to feel stuck. But while it can be a challenge to pull them out, once you do, you’ll realize you weren’t actually stuck.
It just felt that way. This is similar to how I view our valleys. Sometimes we feel stuck. We end up looking down, dwelling on the feeling of sinking, instead of trusting our Shepherd to guide us out.
As we see in Psalm 23, and as Jennifer Rothschild states on Day One of this week’s bookwork, “David knew the shepherd’s perspective. He had led sheep through valleys to get them to greener pastures.” She then goes on to say:
“God can use our temporary valleys to create everlasting good for and in us.”
When we face our valleys, we can easily fall into the trap of focusing on the hard things and allow our attitudes to reflect our feelings of defeat and doubt. We can lose sight of the confidence we have in our Shepherd’s perspective and His purpose for allowing us to walk this exact path.
So what does it look like to keep moving when we feel stuck? Like Jennifer wisely teaches, we can start with taking our eyes off our feet, shifting our focus from what we can’t change (our valleys) and instead work on changing the way we see them. Like David, we can have confidence in our Shepherd’s standpoint, trusting that as we continue to walk with Him, He will use that time to:
- Change us
- Grow us
- Take us to a better place
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be so blinded by my temporary situations that I miss out on the opportunities God has planned to bring good and Him glory. I want my attitudes and actions to reflect a woman who doesn’t live in but rather walks through her valleys! What about you?
Ladies, valleys are going to come, so let’s work to be women who walk well. Women whose feet don’t get stuck in the sand but, instead, move forward in faith knowing that God will use our temporary situations for good!
Anna
Reflect and Respond:
Think of someone in your life who has inspired you by how well they walked through their valleys. What was it about their actions and attitudes that impacted you?