We walk through valleys and face the shadow of death.
And yet we say “Yay!” – intentionally.
The often quoted Psalm 23:4 reads, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You (God) are with me.” But I challenge that a simple yea, or yes, is not enough. We want a Yay!, a deliberate celebration of bright victories in the dark moments. We want to cheer God when He shows up in the low times. We have to believe that these moments exist. And we must purposefully seek them out.
To be clear, this is not about James 1:2, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials,” another often quoted scripture. We are not aiming to find joy with the trial (of course there may be some of that), rather we are looking to find joys in the trials. Most lessons have been revealed with time, not by questioning in the moment. Try not to dwell on what lesson God is teaching during a trial. Instead, be in the moment and train your brain to recognize the small joys throughout the journey.
YAY! Through The Valley 