Mountaintops and Valleys

One of the devotional books I'm reading right now is all about forgivness and God's grace. Completely a God thing that I picked this particular book off the shelf recently.

It's one of those things where I think God has gently nudged me...then pushed a little harder and now he's thumping me on my head about listening to him.

I just reminded a friend recently, our God is the God of our mountaintops and the God of our valleys as well.

Yeah...I need to listen to my own advice at times. God is the God of my valleys. He can handle my hurt.

I read something a few weeks ago about God already knowing all our pain and wanting us to just bring it to him and give it up and leave it behind us.

Man, I struggle with that. Let me just be real honest, I don't like pain. I don't like to think about things that I know will hurt me. I have a mental block where my brain will just shut down and not address issues I know I need to address because I know they are going to cause me pain.

I don't doubt God's grace and I know I am forgiven for things I've done in my past. It is forgiving myself at times that is the issue. Now, rationally, I know it is Satan keeping me in those chains. But emotionally? Hurt. Pain. Sorrow. Regret. Doubt. All the things that keep me from growing in my relationship with God. Things Satan loves me to feel.

But...my God is the God of my valleys as well as my mountaintops. He can handle it.

My prayer today is that I remember nothing is too big for God. He wants to walk through my valleys if I will only cry out to him and let him walk me through them.