I will…transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. (Hosea 2:15 NLT)

Life often feels like one continuous Valley of Trouble doesn’t it? Just watch the news these days and you’re bombarded with vivid images of turmoil ~ the evil of terror striking innocent people in airports and train stations; violence on our streets, corruption and evil running rampant.

And our personal lives sometimes seem no better. Often we experience so much suffering we can’t see past the clouds that, like us, are trapped between the huge mountains of pain surrounding our dark place. It’s hard to even think about hope when we’re in this valley, much less believe that God can actually use our struggles to lead us to anything good.

Jesus himself was no stranger to our human battle with suffering. The day before He would suffer and die a cruel and humiliating death, Christ experienced one of the darkest and most evil valleys imaginable, as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane asking ~ no ~ begging His Father to “…take this cup from me.”

Yet even as He wrestled with His agonizing human fear, Jesus believed that His Father’s will was better than His own. “… not my will, but yours be done.” He knew that without walking through the valley of His Cross we would never see the hope of Resurrection power! And so, Jesus said “yes.” And God was faithful to transform His Son’s valley of pain into the gateway to our freedom ~ our Salvation.

But remember, a gateway is something we must go through in order to get to another place. Just as Jesus had to go through the pain and suffering of Calvary in order to get to the hope and joy of His Resurrection, so we too must walk through our trials in order to allow God to use them as a gateway to something better.

That is exactly what God does. He transforms our trials into a doorway. I know. I have lived through that transformation. It was only through and in the most difficult periods of my life, when I had been pushed to the edge of my own emotional rope, that I found God so close, so tender, and absolutely all sufficient. God used my suffering to draw me nearer to Him than I’d ever been before.

As I look back now, there are actually times I almost yearn for those difficult days again… days when I would scream and cry out to God in pain and heartache, yet feel the sweet touch of His hand ~ so real and so healing ~ that much like the pain of childbirth, the joy I received far outweighed the pain I endured in order to walk into this intimate encounter with my King!

And the truth is, just as God did not remove the “cup” from His own Son, He often does not remove ours either. Instead of taking away our hardships, God uses them. Our seemingly “unanswered” prayers, our continued trouble and suffering, become the gateway through which we walk into God’s best for us. Just as there could be no Salvation without the pain and suffering of Christ’s cross, there is often no real transformation without walking through our valley of trouble.

Although suffering is not the only way for us to be led into the freedom and hope that God offers, somehow when things are going well, when our lives are filled with peace and prosperity, we often don’t even recognize our need for God. We become self-sufficient and a bit lazy ~ a bit too comfortable and content with the rewards of this world.

But in our times of suffering and deepest need, we finally turn our eyes to heaven and say, “God, please help!” Pain forces us to our knees and sends us to a valley so deep that only God can meet us there, and when He does, amazing transformation begins.

Trouble and pain are what turn our eyes and heart to God in a posture of absolute dependence ~ God, the giver of life ~ and we, His creation who cannot exist without Him. It is when we’re in this posture that God can and does show His love and His power best. In our position of need, our valley of trouble, God takes us through that gateway of hope to the joy of experiencing His presence and His power!

So on this Good Friday, as we remember Jesus’ suffering and death, let’s not forget how God used this darkest of valleys as the gateway to Easter Sunday ~ to Resurrection Life! And let’s thank God for our own trials, because only when we allow Him to transform our valleys into His gateway of hope, can we find the ultimate blessing He has planned for us ~ an intimate encounter with the King of Kings!

A Blessed and Happy Easter to you all!
Mary