Navigating Spiritual Valleys
How Your Spiritual Lows Can Become Springboards to New Spiritual Heights
By Brian Phipps
What I Wish I Knew Back Then
I wish someone would have told me that a red-hot pursuit of Jesus would not always feel so red-hot. I also wish someone would have told me that the “not-so-red-hot moments” could be an invitation to experience new spiritual heights.
A mentor once described spiritual journeys as a mix of “mountain top” moments, “deep valley” moments, and “even ground” moments. Mountaintop and Even Ground moments don’t trouble us. It is the valleys that mess with us, especially when valley moments turn into long valley seasons.
Valley seasons make us wonder what we are doing wrong. Valley seasons make us question God’s goodness. Valley seasons, if not navigated properly, can spell the end of a faith journey.
Conversely, with the right perspective, valley seasons can catapult you into an amazing future.
My First Valley
One of my valley seasons started in 1999 and lasted two years.
I was a young pastor in my first job, and the challenges of church leadership were overwhelming. I became depressed and eventually needed medical treatment to manage it. The darkness of the valley was temporarily alleviated when I was called to serve a different church in another state. I was excited about the new work, but we immediately ran into another challenge: our home in the previous town would not sell. Without the funds from a sale, we had to dig into our savings to get by. As I watched our savings get smaller and smaller, uncertainty loomed large.
I was still in the valley.
The agony of this valley was amplified by a decision I made while searching for the new church. I had been asked to consider pastoring at two other churches – churches that my peers would have seen as the pathway to securing a solid financial future. I had declined. Instead, I prioritized a small church with less pay. I chose this church because they were dedicated to disciple-making and sharing their faith.
Although I could barely admit it to myself, deep inside I felt that my priority of choosing Jesus’ mission over financial security would have merited God’s help in selling that home. When it didn’t, I was confused, hurt, and angry. It made the valley feel even deeper, more desolate.
Resetting my Compass
Eventually, I had to reset my inner compass and return to being guided by the Bible instead of my own hopes and expectations of how God should work in my life.
Meditations on two bible verses became especially meaningful while I continued through the valley. The first was a phrase from Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley.” The key word was “through.” “Through” indicated that one day I would be out of that valley.
The second was from 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” God wasn’t ignoring my situation. God was loving me enough to empty me of my limited power in order to fill me with His greater power. This kind of lesson is so valuable, yet it’s one that you only learn when trusting God through the valley! I cried. I complained. But I didn’t stop trusting.
Manna in the Desert
While God didn’t work the way I wanted, He did give me what I needed.
People began to secretly drop off checks in my office. These gifts would always cover the bills and expenses for the month. That continued for three months. It felt like manna in the desert … or “daily bread.”
Eventually, our former house sold, but the sale didn’t carry over any cash to put toward a new home, which really felt like salt in the wound.
And this is where God worked things His way – not mine – and gave us a completely unexpected miracle.
The former pastor of the church I chose called me out of the blue, inviting me to purchase his home. He said that if we wanted it, he would give us ten percent of the sale to use as a down payment. It turned out to be the perfect home for us! When we were closing on the house, I realized something amazing: the down payment the pastor gave us was the exact amount we had depleted from our savings while in the valley.
It was like God was winking at me and saying, “I had you the whole time.” You didn’t lose anything.
The Value of the Valley
That valley was the one that taught me that obedience to God is greater than the world’s sense of wisdom or competence.
God can be trusted. So, we obey Him, even when we can’t see how He is working things out.
That lesson was the bedrock that helped my wife and me to take bigger “obedience risks” in the years to come. The most recent one was the decision to leave a full-time job – with two kids in college – to build Disciples Made and the Fully Alive Community.
If you are intently following Jesus, you will undoubtedly experience spiritual valleys … even when you are doing the right things. When you are in those valleys, resist the temptation to give up. Keep walking that rough path by leaning into Jesus and His daily leadership… and not on your own understanding.
Obedience, not competence, is how you move from spiritual valleys to new spiritual heights.
If you are ready to experience more spiritual heights check out our Fully Alive Life Plan to help guide you to the mountaintop.