Strength in Solitude

The fruit that stood out most to me is 'Faithfulness'. I have not shared my complete story, but I don't think it's quite time to do so. I will say this, I have been in a couple of valleys I'd rather never visit again. One was when I was twelve and this last one was earlier this year. I thought for sure I was going to die, and at times I did wish the Lord would just take me home. I wasted away from a plump 165 lbs to 125lbs in about 2 months. I was completely and utterly without human support. I had no friends, I was in a new job, I was in a new church (after not attending for quite some time) and my family is all in Arizona. I was left to rely wholly on the Lord, and since it was my only choice, I did. In many ways I think God wanted it that way, so I would see that He is all I need. From that time 'in the valley' I learned that no matter how far or how hard we fall, the Lord will always be there. He is the only one who can lift us up out of the valley. He's the one, to use a climbing term, on belay. He is our support, our safety, and if we fall, He holds the rope so we don't fall too far, and during our times of struggle he can tug on that rope a little to give us a little help to the next ledge out of that valley. I am thankful for my struggles. Yes, they hurt, but I learned so much about the Lord and his faithfulness, and learned that if I am faithful to Him, my struggles, heartbreaks, whatever else I am required to go through, in the end, I know I'll come out on top, because of Him. If we are faithful to each other, we can be God's tools to help others out of their valleys. If God wants them alone, to rely wholly on him, they will be. We need to be there when that time has passed.