Having just returned from the lovely Smokies, I miss hiking the elevated mountain trails. But I’ve found there’s a better place to spend time than the mountaintop … the Valley of Blessing.
Yep, it’s a real place. A valley that restores hope. A safe place. A springboard for heartfelt gratitude. A haven of rest. Of healing and regrouping, physically, metaphorically and spiritually.
Described in 2 Chronicles 20:26, the Valley of Blessing was so named because Jehovah miraculously rescued His people (Judah) from their enemies there. The Hebrews, having been assured that “the battle is not yours but God’s” (2 Chron. 20:15), loudly sang praise songs to God as they clumsily marched toward the enemy’s camp. Jehovah caused the enemy army to become disoriented, turn on their fellow soldiers and destroy themselves.
The Hebrews were so overcome with joy that after they spent three days sorting out all the plunder-blessings abandoned by the fleeing army, they held a massive praise fest in the valley, profusely thanked God for orchestrating their enemy’s shocking self-destruction and for restoring “peace on all sides” (2 Chron. 20:20).
They called this spontaneous worship place the “Valley of Blessing.”
Many of us are more familiar with a different valley, the “Valley of the Shadow of Death” (Psalm 23). I recently found a Christmas newsletter I’d written in 2005 expressing my thankfulness for a reprieve outside that oppressive Shadow of Death. After years of heartbreak from six miscarriages, I was grateful for a period of restoration and regeneration.
I entered the Valley of Blessing. And it was truly a blessed relief.
I’ve since relished my sweet reposes in the Valley of Blessing, even if brief. I hope you do too, my friend. For it’s in this holy valley that we may cherish “peace on all sides.” When we recognize and appreciate that our Valley of Blessing is from Jehovah, we can apply to ourselves the Holy Spirit’s admonition:
“You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf. … Do not fear or be dismayed; … go out to face them, [your enemies], for the LORD is with you,” (2 Chron. 20:17 NASB).