Thought for the Day:   

I’m posting the entire message from Os Hillman’s devotional message, Today God Is First (TGIF).  This one was a special reminder to me.  Over the last few days, I’ve felt a bit weary and have seemed a little low on my emotional strength when looking forward to the long-haul of life.  Thanks, Lord.  I needed this.

Seeing Backward    October 19 

"O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed" (Ps 30:7).

“It is often difficult to recognize the hand of God when we are in the midst of adversity. We often feel God has hidden His face from us. When the Lord takes us through deep valleys, there will be fruit from the deep valley that we cannot see. You must press into Him with all you have during this time.”

“God uses the deep valley to frame our lives to create a change in our nature, not just a change in habits. The depth and width of our valley is often an indicator of the level of calling and influence we will have on others in the future. Our adversity is not just for us, but others who will be in our future path of influence. This is not very comforting when you are in the middle of the valley, but know this is a truth in the Kingdom.”

“It is often years later when we discover the wisdom of God and why He intentionally led us through the dark valley. Life is often lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back at through valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale and the spiritual deposits He has made in our life while we were there. "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light" (Job 12:22). When you begin to realize this, you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief because you know that God was in control all along. It didn't seem like it at the time, but He was.”

“Do you find yourself in the valley? Now is the time to fully trust Him to guide you to higher ground.”

I trust that whatever valley you might encounter, that you remember that a guide and helper is there right alongside of you every step of the way.  He hasn’t forgotten you.  He hasn’t forsaken you.  The path you trek may be boulder-strewn and tough going; but don’t despair.  Keep putting one foot in front of the other while trusting in the Lord God.