God’s promises for | Devotions by Chris Hendrix

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May 3, 2021 · 5:54 AM

Going Through The Valley

I’ll never forget the first time I climbed up the side of a mountain. I was somewhere in Washington State a month or two after my mom passed away. I remember the climb up was more difficult than I imagined. When I got halfway up, I sat down to take break. As I looked down on the valley, I was struck by its beauty and lush vegetation. I remember thinking that while I couldn’t stay in the valley, I could at least grow while I was in it. What had seemed dark and dry from below, now looked like fertile soil from higher up. God used that climb to speak to me and to bring healing. I wasn’t meant to stay in the valley, but just because I was walking through one, it didn’t mean God couldn’t grow me through it. What seemed like a dry time in my life was really God planting seeds in fertile soil.

When we go through some of the darkest times in our life, we refer to it as going through a valley. David famously wrote in the 23rd Psalm, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me” (NLT). God doesn’t leave us when we go through the valleys of life. He’s close to you even when you can’t feel Him, and He’s given you tools for protection and comfort. He then prepares a table for you there representing that you will be taken care of and that you can thrive even in the darkest times of your life.

I like the promise given in Psalm 84:6-7. It says, “As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, it becomes a place of springs; the autumn rain fills it with pools. They grow stronger as they go; they will see the God of gods on Zion” (GNT). Your dry, dark times will become a place of life that you will look back on the rest of your life to draw strength from. It doesn’t feel like it in the moment, but when you get more perspective as you move forward up the mountains in your life, you will see that God never left you and He uses these times to make us stronger. Keep pushing forward through what seems like a dark and dry time, trust the promises in God’s Word and know that what you’re walking through is preparing you to make a difference in the lives of others. What seems like an end is truly a new beginning.

Thanks to Sohaib Ghyasi @sohaibghyasi for making this photo available freely on Unsplash

When Plans Fail

When I was in high school, I had figured out what I wanted to be and had planned it out. After high school, things happened and that plan went out the window. Several years later, I got married and began to plan my life out again. When those plans fell through, I found myself bankrupt and divorced. Each time things happened, I didn’t quit planning, I just had to make adjustments to the plan because I hadn’t calculated in set backs and going through hard times. I realize that these are things you can’t plan for, but I’ve also learned that plans rarely go the way they’re made. When things go off course from the way I envisioned them, God is still at work in my life and He still has a plan that has calculated all these things into it.

Life is not a matter of if things go wrong, it’s a matter of when. No one is excluded from bad things happening, plans falling through and going through hard times. But we have a promise from God that when things don’t go according to our plan, He’s right there with us going through the process by our side. He’s also promised that He won’t let those times overtake us. Looking back at those times in my life, I can see God’s hand at work and the course corrections He was making. It’s these promises that I now hold onto when I go through them again. Even though my plans fail, God never does. He’s there with us in the hardest of times even though it’s difficult to see Him in those moments.

Here are some Bible verses I hold onto when things don’t go as planned.

1. When I had nothing, desperate and defeated, I cried out to the Lord and he heard me, bringing his miracle-deliverance when I needed it most.

Psalms 34:6 TPT

2. You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

Matthew 5:3 MSG

3. To this very moment we go hungry and thirsty; we are clothed in rags; we are beaten; we wander from place to place; we wear ourselves out with hard work. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are insulted, we answer back with kind words.

1 Corinthians 4:11-13 GNT

4. Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

1 Peter 4:12-13 MSG

5. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

Isaiah 43:2 NLT

Photo by ian dooley on Unsplash

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