Have you ever watched a loved one on the receiving end of betrayal or abuse and there’s nothing you can do to fix it? In fact, seeing it happen actually triggers your own past betrayals?

That’s a hard place to sit and just be. Being a safe person for them to vent to, without getting offended or taking some sort of action. Separating your own emotions from your past from their current circumstance can get really messy.

It’s not helpful to quote Romans 8:28 at a time like that, right? It’s almost like pouring salt in the wound to suggest that God will bring good out of it, especially when the emotional gash is still gaping.

As I sit in this very place and seek to be a life giver, this scripture poured life into my soul this morning.

“Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. AS THEY GO THROUGH THE VALLEY OF BACA, THEY MAKE IT A PLACE OF SPRINGS, the early rain also covers it with pools. THEY GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH, each one appears before God in Zion.”  (Psalm 84:5-8 emphasis mine)

WOW.

So in this valley time, we can choose to make it a place of springs. Streams in the desert. Springs in the valley.

So how do we do that?

I think the only way to go from strength to strength and make the desert valley a place of springs is to remind our hearts of God’s goodness. Like Jeremiah did in Lamentations 3:21-26. Up to these verses he is recounting the wrong done to him, the great pain and injustice. It’s brutal. In fact, please go and read it as it makes this response starting in verse 21 all the more powerful.

“But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:21-26 (ESV)

Yep, there is our answer. We can make those deserts and valleys a place of springs, teeming with hope, by doing these six words…

But this I call to mind…

We have to do it … God doesn’t necessarily do it for us … we have to act, obey, make a choice to fix our thoughts on His faithfulness, even in our pain.

WOW.

He has been so faithful to me, I can do no less than to recall, reflect, and renew my mind with the truth of His faithfulness. Even when it hurts.

Have you experienced this type of situation recently? Was it hard for you to call the truth to mind in the middle of it? I’d love to hear how you made that choice.

Thanks for spending time with me today!

Athena

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