In my last post, we talked about two things that shape us – Mountains and Mentors. Today I wanted to talk about Valleys and Villains but they’re both fascinating topics. So I’m going to give them each their own post. Let’s talk about Valleys today and how they shape us. Villains we’ll save for our next week.

Last year on a bike ride from Boston, MA to Providence, RI, I painfully felt that all I did all day long on Day 3 was ride uphill out of valleys. It was easy to forget the speedy descents because riding out of each valley was brutal. It didn’t help that the temperature hit 105 degrees that day. I had choice words for the Maker of the universe and how he made that part of the planet.

These were valleys I put myself in by choice thinking in some sadistic way that I would enjoy them. Some low points in life we are totally responsible for. By choosing or not choosing, we end up in a valley. Procrastinating projects, taking on too much for the time we have available, stalled friendships, DUI’s. Those are all valleys resulting from a hundred bad decisions we can make.

You know what, though? There are important lessons in these kinds of valleys that we won’t learn anywhere else.

Like how to be faithful in the little things. Because if we’re not, the little things become big problems. “A prudent man gives thought to his steps,” Proverbs 14:15 says. I’m thinking the prudent man has tripped enough times and tumbled into enough valleys that he figured out, “If I gave more thought to my steps, maybe I wouldn’t stumble so much.”

I’ve walked many miles and ticked off a lot of people before I finally admitted that “E” on the gas gauge means “Empty” not “We can ‘Eeek’ out a few more miles on this tank.” I needed to give more thought to my steps to the gas pumps. Self-imposed valleys can teach us wisdom if we listen.

During the same summer as my Boston bike ride, I was traveling in Utah. In a car, not on a bike. We were told near the town of Page there was an awesome canyon called Antelope Canyon. We hiked behind a tour guide who walked us a few hundred yards across a barren plateau. I was looking around for rising hills so we could enter Antelope Canyon. There were none. We were on a windy dusty flat plateau. I was really geologically confused.

And then he led us to an almost invisible crack in the ground with a set of stairs going down. We discovered Antelope Canyon is underground. It’s known as a slot canyon. Carved by hundreds of years of flooding, the swirling water shaped a canyon of twists and turns that appear other-worldly. We walked in tight spaces between spiraling orange sandstone walls 120 feet at their highest point or 120 feet deep, depending on your perspective. Occasionally, we saw the sky as a thin blue ribbon above us.

I remember thinking, if it rains really hard, we’re all dead. There’s no way out but a staircase on either end of this canyon. And the stairs still had debris lodged in them from the last storm. Not very reassuring.

Some valleys, like Antelope Canyon, come out of nowhere and seem like there’s no way out. Like a slot canyon during a flood. Remember that well-known line from probably the most famous Psalm in the Bible, the 23^rd Psalm? “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” Psalm 23:4

A valley where Death casts its ugly menacing shadow. That is a valley that has no escape it would seem.

Have you been in those dark places? Paralyzing anxiety, reoccurring depression, addictions or habits that you can’t shake. Those menacing cliffs cast their dark shadows as we walk through their valleys. These aren’t valleys we create ourselves; they cling to us. And they are long valleys.

You may have noticed I didn’t finish the verse from the 23^rd Psalm. It reads, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me.” Psalm 23:4

The valley-walker isn’t rescued. She is shepherded, she is escorted. She has a companion to walk with through the shadows. How does the 23^rd Psalm begin? “The LORD is my Shepherd.” You see, He walks with us through the dark valleys.

To death He brings resurrection. To darkness He brings the light of life. To loneliness He brings friendship.

So even the valley of the shadow of death can shape us, deepen our spirits and serve a greater purpose – a closer walk with the One who walked the same valley but overcame it. Consider that escape may not be the only goal in your valley. Companionship in your spirit with an Overcomer may be at work as well.

On the same Antelope Canyon trip, we rode horses down into Bryce Canyon. We started on the cliffs and the horses maneuvered 1000 feet downward on trails no wider than a horse’s butt. A novice rider a few horses ahead was scared to death. Our cowboy tour guide gave her a sarcastic shout, “Don’t lean, don’t scream!” The National Park Service did their best to scare you, too. They posted signs that said: “DANGER – CLIFF. SLIPPERY SANDSTONE. UNSTABLE ROCK EDGE.” And if you preferred pictures to reading, it included a picture of a hiker tumbling to his or her death.

The advertising for the horseback riding in Bryce says you haven’t seen beauty until you’ve seen the Park from the canyon floor. It was true. When we’re in the valley, we have a perspective that is very different from when we are on top of the mountain.

When I am at a low point in my life and trouble is all around, I feel like gusts of wind are blowing against me from different directions, trying to keep me unbalanced.

Those same contrary winds that swoop into our valleys can also blow away the superficial that we are tempted to rely on. When we’re forced to the canyon floor, our perspective changes. What really matters, really matters again. We’ve forgotten to pray and then – we tumble into a valley – and prayer becomes vital again. The Valley can grab our attention again and focus it on what is vital, essential, spiritual. We can return to a certain beauty and simplicity looking up from the canyon floor.

My father-in-law Paul Malone was a great mentor of mine. He walked the valley of cancer twice. I remember him saying he considered cancer a blessing. Who in their right mind would say that? Well, from the valley floor he could look up and say it was a blessing because his condition gave him the time to say everything he wanted to say to his family and friends. He knew he wasn’t dying suddenly. He was passing from his home on earth to his home in heaven slowly. And he had the precious time to share his love and legacy before he had to go. What a wise man.

We all find ourselves in valleys during life. Some we tumble into unexpectedly and others – well, we just walk ourselves right into them. And still others are common to us all. Certain lessons can only be learned when we are in the valley.

In our valleys when we feel the loneliest, we are very pliable. Ready for some shaping. But many times when we’re in the valley, we’re not looking for how it’s shaping us. We’re looking for a way to escape the valley. If you’re in a valley right now, force yourself to ask, “In what ways am I being shaped by this valley?”

In the valley we have great opportunity to feel God’s presence. We assume to often in the valley that He is absent. Could it be that one of the reasons for our valleys is so we can experience His presence in a deeper way?

Billy Graham said, “Mountain tops are for views and inspiration. But fruit is grown in the valleys.”

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So whether I’m on horseback, on a bike or in a slot canyon, I’m going to try and remember that Life is Best – when I look for that fruit – especially in the valleys!

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