An Invitation

By A. Schwarz
"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; you rod and your staff, they comfort me."

I wish I could forever remain engulfed within a mountain top experience with God; where I can feel His touch and hear His heart speak; where I am struck with the realization of His overwhelming glory. Those high moments with God are what I desire to experience day-in and day-out. They are where we can feel His presence and where we feel at home.

It is there that I want to stay and rest.

But most of the time, I am either scaling the mountain reaching for the summit, slipping and falling back down the cliffs, or left in their shadow within the valleys. It is during these times where there seems to be a distance between God and I, an endless canyon that I cannot cross. These places and times tend to feel like a punishment, as if God has turned His back. But our feelings are as human as our minds and emotions, they are so flawed that even while Christ is walking alongside us, we cannot hear Him.

But He is there. He is with you. Even in the darkest valley, he will never leave.

Recently, I heard someone say that it is in these times in life where God is inviting us to pursue a more intimate relationship with Him. It is an invitation. An invitation given to us by the Creator of the universe, our Saviour, our Father, our God. An invitation to seek after Him.

"Even though I walk through the darkest valley… surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

Even in the valleys, He is there. "He leads me besides quiet waters, he restores my soul." It is in the valley where the waters are the calmest and where He quietly draws you in to pursue His heart and find rest in Him.

While I've usually seen these places as dark and lonely, they are really a voice in the stillness beckoning to come closer to Him.