By Holly Culhane
As I reflect on 2021, I’m reminded how circumstances stretch us – often far beyond what we think possible – and about how much they teach us…
about His desire to prune us into what HE wants us to be, in HIS timing and in HIS way,
about the importance of having the Father’s perspective vs. our own,
about the importance of personal growth, no matter our age, and
about the joy of a wounded heart.
If you begin 2022 with a distressed spirit, may this prayer from Arthur Bennett’s The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions help you find vision in your valley…
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
Where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;
Hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox
That the way down is the way up,
That to be low is to be high,
That the broken heart is the healed heart,
That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
That the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
That to have nothing is to possess all,
That to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
That to give is to receive,
That the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells,
And the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;
Let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.
Selah.
