Valley of Trouble

“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.” Hosea 2:14-15

Many times God will lead us into a season of darkness to attune our ears to His message meant only for us. He may remove something of value to us in an effort to balance out the importance we place on that priority in our life. Many times He leads us into the very place we need the most refining where He meets us. For me it was setting boundaries in service and caregiving. These areas seem selfless but can sometimes be selfish in motive. The feelings I got from serving others were motivation sometimes more than the glory God would receive from my service.

God got my attention of setting boundaries by leading me into a valley of achor (trouble) wherein the needs were too many and too great for me to handle. I ended up at the base of burn out at which point my ears were attuned to hear the tender teachings of God. Through His tender words He told me that I was to partner with Him in service and not to own the experience trying to be savior. Once I learned this lesson He led me out of the valley through the door of hope. This door opened up into a new life that offered the privilege of being chosen for some service and passed over for others.

We are spiritually wise to discern our level of service to God through His leadings and urgings. Our ministries are only as successful as the breath that God breathes into them.