Don’t you love it when God puts a verse on your heart that you know is just for you? It’s often said that one of the main ways in which the Lord speaks to us is through His written word. This may happen as we’re doing our regular devotional reading, or when we have a question or problem and need an answer, then finding it after we dig into scripture and read the verses that apply. But does He really give us the desires of our heart?

But another way God speaks to us through His word is to speak a verse into our minds along with the directive to look it up so we can get the whole context. And often when we do, He speaks volumes. He did this for me last week.

Valley Nightmare

I’d been in the deep recesses of the valley for a long, long, time. Oh, there were bright points here and there along the way, good things that brought fleeting happiness. But for the most part, I was trudging through the muck and mire of a valley so deep that even dim light barely penetrated. So many traumas and personal problems involving the usual suspects of family, friends, health, career, and the like, that I often despaired of ever having a rope tossed down to me so I could begin climbing up through the rugged terrain and making my way out.

And the enemy, like flying monkeys, continued to harass, shriek at, and buffet me. One of the many trials I faced was the near loss of my new business as a freelance…