[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Friday, February 7, 2014

[Paul]

Hello and good day once again to all my loyal readers.  I hope that you are all doing well, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

Here's a poem I might have shared with some of you last year, but there have been others added to my "sheepfold" so to speak who might not have read it previously.  Its author is unknown, but what he/she said in his/her poem spoke volumes to me.  It's entitled "It's In the Valleys I Grow" and is rendered as follows:

Sometimes life seems hard to bear, full of sorrow, trouble and woe
It's then I have to remember, that it's in the valley I grow.

If I always stayed on the mountain top and never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God's love and would be living in vain.

I have so much to learn and my growth is so very slow,
Sometimes I need the mountain tops, but it's in the valleys I grow.

I do not always understand why things happen as they do,
But I am very sure of one thing; my Lord will see me through.

My little valleys are nothing when I picture Christ on the cross.
He went through the valley of death; His victory was Satan's loss.

Forgive me, Lord, for complaining when I'm feeling so very low.
Just give me a gentle reminder that it's in the valleys I grow.

Continue to strengthen me Lord, and use my life each day;
To share Your love with others and help them find their way.

Thank You for the valleys, Lord, for this one thing I know;
The mountain tops are glorious, but it's in the valleys I grow.

I hope this poem ministered to you as much as it did to me, and that it was a blessing.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be yet another Daily Thought message for you to ponder.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul