April 2, 2017

You are not meant to stay in that valley…

Every now and then I hear a song that just feels like a breath of fresh air. Like it speaks to my heart and soul, right where I am, in a way that nothing else could reach me. It can be the simplest of songs. It can be one that states something that I already know. But still, it’s just what I need to comfort me, bring me peace, or reassure me of certain truths.

This is one of those songs.

I heard this song the other day about hills and valleys by Tauren Wells, and it just felt like a rush of peace. Life is so chaotic. Stress in rampant everywhere around me in people that I love. And the questions came to my mind as I was listening to this song… how often do we stay stuck in our valleys because we are afraid to climb the mountain in front of us? How often do we doubt our ability to climb it? Why do we defeat ourselves before we even try? Do we stay in they valley to feel “safe,” because it’s simply what we know? Does the mountain just seems impossibly huge and we feel too small to take it on? Or is the idea of failing, of not making it up the mountain, more than we can handle?

In one line of the song he says, “When I’m standing on a mountain I didn’t get there on my own… when I’m walking through a valley I know I am not alone.” I know this to be true, but I forget so easily sometimes.

Are you stuck in a valley?

Are you afraid of the mountain in front of you? There are blessings on that mountain, but you have to be willing to climb it to reach them. And the blessings are all along the way, not just at the top. But you have to be willing to take the first step, and the next, and the next. It’s ok if you don’t know how to climb it. You’re not supposed to know. You learn along the way. You grow as you try. You’ll slip and fall. You’ll scrape yourself up. But with each bump, bruise, broken bone, stumble, setback… that is where you grow, that is where you learn, that is where you find your stepping stones to climb even higher.