God in dark valleys

All of us have times in our lives when we pass through a very dark valley.  Some of us walk them over and over;  some of us have enduring sorrows or illness which impact us every day. We cope in different ways.  In all our dark days, God wants to be there to walk through the valley with us. 

For some, this presence is very real, in the person and spirit of Jesus;  for others whose experience of God has perhaps been overlaid with some kind of alienating experience (often from the organised church or some prattling Christian who offers trite advice and bible verses, without any empathy with suffering);  for these, the presence of God is not so clear.  But God is still there.  It might be in the kind word of a nurse who listens as we endure a long night of pain or bewilderment;  it might be an act of kindness from a stranger;  it might even be through some worldly advice.  I heard recently of a person who was at the end of his own resources being told, “tie a knot in the rope, and hang on”.  God is there in all that, and more.  Lord of compassion, give us obedience today, to deny our own egos and let your love and care, pass to those we meet today. Give us humility, so we can see you in the faces of those who suffer.