This is a story about a song and its impact. It is a good story but a long one, so Iโll start at the beginning and try to be brief.
Anyone who has been a part of either NVBC for the past twenty years, or GSBC during its first decade, will remember Brother Flintโs extraordinary talent on the guitar. From the time we first met, he and I sang duets which he accompanied on guitar. One of the songs in our repertoire was Dottie Ramboโs In the Valley He Restoreth My Soul. When our oldest daughter was a toddler, she learned to sing along with us, but she was creative with the wording. When singing Victory in Jesus, the line โHe plunged me to victoryโ came out โHe punched me to victory.โ In Ramboโs Valley, the refrain …
The Lord knows I canโt live on the mountain,
So He picked out a valley for me.
… was transformed by our toddler into โthe Lord picked out nobody as me.โ
This song has had a lot of meaning for us. We thought we knew all about โvalleys.โ The trials that we had endured as broke twenty-somethings in Bible college grew and evolved into tribulations as thirty-somethings with two children, one of whom was critically ill. In reality, we hadnโt touched the valleyโs depth until we reached fifty-something and my husband lost his health, his strength, and his ability to play the guitar. At the age when most Americans are thinking of retiring, taking it easy, traveling, and pursuing hobbies, we were entering the darkest and most difficult time in our lives.
I remember a particularly trying two-week period in which our immediate family experienced an excruciating death, a devastating divorce, and a critical diagnosis. In addition, there was a financial issue and difficulty at work. I felt like I was hanging off a cliff by my fingernails; then, my dog got very ill. I could not โglory in tribulationsโ (Romans 5:3), but I could โcome boldly unto the throne of graceโ to pray, โobtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of needโ (Hebrews 4:16). And I found it.
(NOTE: If you are not a dog person, skip to the next paragraph right now. I MEAN it!) Is it just us dog lovers? Okay, Iโll continue. I prayed as I comforted my dog, โPlease, God, not this week. Please donโt let her die this week.โ It was her time; she was 12 years old, but I just could not take any more sorrow. God answered my prayer; she lived for two more weeks.
Although Iโve thrown a pity party or two, or three hundred, for a child of God a trial is not a grief but a gift that has been carefully selected by a loving Heavenly Father. The purpose of a trial is included in Ms. Ramboโs song,
He tells me thereโs strength in my sorrow,
And thereโs victory in trials for me.
Every valley has not only brought me strength and victory but also given me and my children and grandchildren an opportunity to glorify God. Another impact of the song is found in the chorus which is taken from Psalm 23:
He draws me aside to be tested and tried,
But in the valley, He restoreth my soul
In the valley, there are problems, but there is also peace, answered prayer, and the protection of God. Most importantly, we have the opportunity to show our children and grandchildren how God โprovides a table in the wilderness.โ If I had been given a choice forty-some years ago, I would not have selected this path for our lives. Today, I wouldnโt trade my situation with anyone elseโs. After all, itโs a gift that Lord picked it out for โnobody as me.โ
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Joy Flint, GSBC Alumni Director
Mrs. Flint serves as the Alumni Director of Golden State Baptist College and has been teaching at GSBC for twenty years. She is the wife of Brother Mike Flint, the mother of two GSBC alumni, and a grandmother of four โBear Cubs.โ
I really enjoyed this one. It was such a blessing
๐Thank you so very much for sharing your heart and the goodness of our gracious and loving Heavenly Father through your valleys! Thank you for the reminder that trials are not a grief, but a special gift from our Precious Heavenly Father. What a blessing this has been to me!