Listen

Don’t become arrogant, forgetting the Lord your God:

the one who rescued you from Egypt, from the house of slavery;

the one who led you through this vast and terrifying desert of poisonous snakes and scorpions, of cracked ground with no water;

the one who made water flow for you out of a hard rock;

the one who fed you manna in the wilderness, which your ancestors had never experienced, in order to humble and test you, but in order to do good to you in the end.

Deuteronomy 8:14-16

Think

Yesterday we were reminded of the importance of thanking God when standing on the mountaintops. However, it is also important to be thankful to God when we are in the valleys. We all have our seasons in life when it seems like we are alone and that the world is stacked against us. I don’t know how many times I have felt like crawling back in bed and hiding under the covers because I did not want to face what was happening in my life. And yet God was with me each step of the way (even if I didn’t realize it at the time).

That is the awesome thing about God. All throughout the Bible God shows up when people are at their lowest and is with them in their pain. God sees us and knows us and loves us deeply when we are in the valley of the shadow of death. Thanks be to God that even in our darkest valleys, God helps us step by step to climb back up into the light.

Sara Smith

Question to Ponder:

Where do you see God in your life right now? How can you help others see God in their lives?

Pray

God, I am thankful that you are a God that sits with me in the valleys.

I pray that when I can’t see the light you will show me glimpses of the Spirit to light my path up the mountain.

Help me to be the light to others when they are in their valleys.

Amen.

Go

May the spirit of thanksgiving live within you,

not just during the season of thankfulness,

but from the time you rise in the morning

until the time you lay your head down at night.

May the name of the Lord be praised!