God in the Valley: Finding Strength in Life’s Tough Moments

Have you here ever walked through a time in your life that the Bible describes as a valley, a wilderness, or a pit? Or am I the only one? Finding God in the valley can be hard and so I want to share what has helped me along the way.

I’d like to propose that these very seasons have the greatest capacity for a massive harvest in our lives. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18,

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

When you’re in a valley, hearing this verse can feel like a slap in the face. I’m pretty sure I’ve rolled my eyes when someone quoted it to me during a difficult season. Especially early in my walk with the Lord, I could only see reasons to be grateful once I had made it through the valley—but not during it.

Yet, after having walked through many, many valleys, I now see how important gratitude is during the process, not just at the end.

Let’s jump in and learn how to make the most of every season of life.

Understanding Valley Experience

The valley represents times of loss, grief, pain, and difficult circumstances. These seasons can look like this:

• The death of a loved one
• Job loss
• Loneliness
• Waiting for a promise from God that doesn’t seem to come
• Prayers that feel unanswered
• Seeing family and friends reject you and your faith
• Financial struggles in the midst of an economic crisis

While I haven’t experienced the death of something really close to me, I have experienced a lot of loss and perhaps even more disappointment. Because of that, I have been committed to figuring out how best to turn toward the Father in these seasons instead of letting my heart grow cold and turn away.

While I was in spiritual direction training my teacher said something about tests or wildernesses that blew my mind and has completely shifted my mindset on them. He said that they were actually a gift because they revealed to us where were…God already knows.

When I walk through a test and I don’t respond how I want, I know I have more to learn. But then there is the moment you go through the test and you respond, without thinking, how you have been working towards responding, and you can see the growth that has happened. That is truly a gift.

Three Ways We Enter the Valley

1. Sometimes, God leads us there.

Matthew 4:1 tells us that the Spirit led Yeshua into the wilderness. He didn’t do something wrong. He didn’t blow up His life. He is perfect and sinless and yet the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness.

He then fasted for 40 days and nights. Then, in the end, the enemy comes to tempt Him, to test Him. And yet Yeshua remains strong.

In the story of Job, God actually asked Satan if he had considered testing Job. I know this is a controversial book and some consider it allegorical while others think it actually happened. Regardless, I think it points to a principle at play: God acts in ways that don’t always seem “right” to us.

But here is the thing, when God initiates a valley season, it is never without purpose. There is always a reason, and there is always fruit (or the opportunity for it). He leads us into the hard places because there is something more for us there!

When He leads us there, we can be confident of a couple of things. 1. He goes with us. 2. He will equip us to make it through. 3. He won’t just leave us there but will continue to let the test happen so that we can be transformed into the image of Christ.

2. Sometimes, the valley happens to us.

We live in a fallen world where people’s choices impact us. People’s actions hurt us or impact our circumstances. Maybe you have lost a job because someone lied about you.

Or perhaps your marriage ended even though you wanted to fight for it. Or someone betrayed you in friendship. Or maybe made choices—like drugs or alcohol—that were bad for themselves that impacted you as well.

Maybe you have lived through a natural disaster. Or your business was impacted by the pandemic. No person is responsible for a natural disaster, it happens but it can take us into a difficult season.

And yet, God is there with you too!

3. Sometimes, our own choices lead us there.

I think this is probably the one we are all most familiar with. This is the one that may happen the most.

Consider how the Israelites turned a 15ish-day journey into a 40-year one because of their unbelief. The Israelites decided to agree with the 10 spies that the land couldn’t be taken and that God wasn’t able to do with them what He was inviting them to do.

Perhaps it is continuous negative thinking that has led you to a dark place that you don’t know how to get yourself out of or poor choices in the work place that have left you jobless.

We’ve all made decisions that resulted in hardship. But even in these valleys, God is still with us.

Take time with God to discern

If you are walking in a valley, I would encourage you to sit with the Father and ask Him these questions. Begin a dialogue because if you’re there in the valley, you weren’t created to stay there. Simultaneously, you should get everything you can out of it so you don’t have to repeat it quite the same.

• Is this a valley initiated by Him?
• Is this a valley because we live in a broken world?
• Is this a valley due to your own choices?
• How should I respond to this valley?
• Is there anything He would like to say regarding this season?

The Power of Gratitude in the Valley

I am naturally quite a joyful person. It is something people commented on even years later after meeting me. But let me tell you, when I am in the middle of the valley, I would get so irritated when someone would say something like “Because God is with me I am good.”

I realize that makes me sound like a terrible believer but I’m just trying to be real. I couldn’t handle it. But you know why? Because they never talked about the hard times. Only that God was always good, which HE IS ALWAYS GOOD. But without understanding the struggle as well it felt like hallow praises.

He is big enough to handle our pain and negative emotions. He is big enough to handle our anger and hurt. He is able to reach into the pit and pluck us out!

That being said, how do we genuinely walk through difficult seasons with genuine gratitude? I have a few thoughts.

Gratitude in the Valley that God Initiates

Not every valley feels good. Heck, does any valley feel good? Sure it may be good and it may produce something good but it sure doesn’t feel good. Yet we can still be grateful.

Gratitude is not a denial of pain; it is a posture of trust.

Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:6: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

We don’t have to love the season.

We don’t have to feel happy in the season.

The season doesn’t have to feel good.

But we can still have thankfulness in our hearts.

In Luke 22:44, Jesus was in such distress that His sweat became like blood. He wasn’t smiling in the garden, but He still surrendered to the Father. It was for the “joy set before Him” that He gladly endured the cross.

Gratitude doesn’t mean happy. It is an intentional choice to offer praise to the One who deserves it. Joy is not a feeling; it is the strength that sustains us.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” – Nehemiah 8:10

So when God sends us into the valley, we can fear no evil (Psalm 23:4) and choose to offer a sacrifice of praise (Psalm 50:14).

2. Gratitude When Life Happens to Us

I am not saying we should just be grateful earthquakes happen or that Tsunamis strike. No one is thankful for disasters, but we can be thankful in the midst of them.

I have been living in Turkey for a number of years now. In 2023, there was a massive earthquake where 50k+ people lost their lives. Entire cities were leveled. History was demolished. I’m not saying that that was a good thing. In the midst of it, however, there were some beautiful things that did happen.

• The body rallied together to provide for those in need, regardless of faith.
• People encountered Yeshua in the rubble and were saved.
• Doors opened for young people to study abroad—opportunities they might not have had otherwise.
• There was a sense of “togetherness” that even for a hospitable people was uncommon.

It was beautiful to see how the whole country rallied together for the part of them that was hurting. We can be grateful for these things. We can be grateful for parts of a season while grieving the others.

God remains on His throne regardless of our circumstances. That alone is enough reason for gratitude.

A simple way to cultivate gratitude in suffering: Ask God in prayer: “Where are You in this?” You might be surprised by what He shows you.

3. Gratitude When We Cause Our Own Hardships

This one is tough. It is so easy to get lost in the blame/shame/victim mindset. It’s easy to say to ourselves:

• “I should have done XYZ.”
• “If only I had chosen differently.”

Yet, God is a Redeemer. He picks up what we have mangled and says, “I know what I can do with this.” Then He exchanges the ashes of our lives for the most beautiful things!

Years ago, I was backpacking through Europe. I found myself in a situation where I played a drinking game for the first time—having no idea how much alcohol it involved. I was so drunk that I’m sure I should have died from alcohol poisoning.

Side note: to this point in my life, I had maybe a couple of drinks. I never smoked. I never kissed anyone much less slept around. I was overcome with pride at how I didn’t do any of “those” things. But oh how pride comes before a fall. Just to give a bit of context to my life.

The next morning I woke up full of shame. I had just gone out with this guy before the trip and I didn’t want to tell him about it. I wanted to go back to my parent’s house and bury my head in the sand. But as I laid in my bed trying to pull myself together to go meet a friend, God spoke Romans 8:1 over me:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

That moment set me free from shame in a way I had never experienced before. I had never felt such shame that I needed Him so. I experienced His grace and love in a way that forever has impacted me.

Even when we lead ourselves into the valley, He loves to redeem us and the situations that we find ourselves in.

To this day I am grateful for the experience because I met my God in a new way that pulled me closer to Him that I would have never experienced without me feeling like I had blown it so.

“The LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore, He will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” – Isaiah 30:18

Practical Ways to Cultivate Gratitude in Hard Seasons

Remember how God has moved before.

Keep a folder or journal with testimonies of God’s faithfulness. I have one on my computer with notes and lists of moments that God was faithful to me in the past. These are your Ebenezers—your stones of remembrance (1 Samuel 7:12).

I also have a “book of remembrance” (Malachi 3:16) where I record the word the Lord gives me each year of how He wants to move in my life. On one side, I draw the word or phrase and on the back, I write the things that happened or prophetic words I received that relate to it.

When you struggle, sometimes it also helps to borrow faith from others by listening to their testimonies. The is a great way we can love each other well.

Start a gratitude journal.

Write small things: a kind word, a warm cup of coffee, a sunset. It can be anything that sparks joy.

I recently read “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. If you haven’t read it yet, run and grab it. It was so worth it. It reminded me that there are always moments we can be grateful, no matter how small they are. All we have to do is look for God’s fingerprints in our day-to-day.

Take a daily gratitude photo.

There was a season when I did this. I captured one image per day that reflects God’s goodness in my life. It was quite similar to the gratitude journal except it felt a bit more creative and obviously was much more visual.

Sing your way into gratitude.

Music is powerful. Vibrations are powerful. It is so cool to see the videos where they put sand on a speaker and play different types of music and watch what happens to the sand. Worship creates a beautiful image where as other stuff creates chaos.

Worship has the power to shift our focus from our circumstances to His faithfulness. Hebrews 13:15 calls it a praise a sacrifice—sometimes, we must choose it even when we don’t feel it.

Practice: A 5-Minute Gratitude Exercise

Okay, so that was a lot! I’d love to encourage you to do a little practice with me. Before you start, take an inventory of how you feel. Is there any pain in your body? Sadness? Negative feelings?

Take 3 minutes and write down 5 things you are grateful for. It could be anything but the key is that you must genuinely feel the gratitude, not just say you’re grateful.

If 5 is too hard, write 3. If 3 is too hard, write 1. Sit with it and let gratitude fill you.

Then, pick one of them and thank God for it. Feel the gratitude for that one thing. Feel all the things associated with that gratitude.

Finally, ask Him to reveal even more of the gift that thing is to you. What do you feel? See? Hear? Sense? Did gratitude increase?

Now, take an inventory of your body again. Can you feel a difference? Do you sense anything that has shifted?

I’d love to hear your feedback on how it went.

Final Thoughts on Meeting God in the Valley

In this human experience we are having, there will always be valleys. There will always be hard things because we aren’t fully in His presence.

That being said, regardless if He brought us there, someone else did, or our own choices have led us into the wilderness, we can choose gratitude and make the most of the season. We can even come out victorious, leaning on the arms of our Beloved.

When you want to quit, when you are most tired, when it seems the hardest—that’s the most important time to give thanks.

Why? Because God is the same, no matter our circumstances.

Gratitude shifts our perspective and changes our hearts. It allows us to go through the hard places with Him and come out transformed.