Being a neuropsychologist, I work in a profession where people come into my office because they are hurting, and their life circumstances are difficult to bear.

I talk with many people both inside and outside my office who are really struggling and going through difficult times and are in the valley. Often, they wonder “Why?”

I have found both personally and professionally that so often, knowing the answer to “Why?” doesn’t really help that much. It doesn’t help when people get the answer to why a spouse had an affair, or why a child attempted suicide, or why a co-worker abuses drugs. The why doesn’t really makes us feel any better.

So often people want to live on the mountaintop. Don’t we all love the mountaintop experiences? They are fulfilling, and exciting, and joyful. But mountaintops are really for the view and for inspiration. But fruit doesn’t grow on the mountaintops. Fruit grows in the depth of the valleys.

So if you are going through a difficult time right now, can I encourage you that God never wastes our pain, ever. Scripture says that what the enemy intended for harm, God will use for good. So if you are in the valley right now, let me encourage you that it serves a purpose. That’s where the fruit grows.

When we are in the valley, there is no place to look but up. Sometimes that is when we can see what God is doing the most clearly. Sometimes when we are in the valley, we can’t see what He is doing, but we can most clearly see our need for Him. Even if you can’t see what He is doing, know that just like fruit, He is growing you, He is maturing you, He is strengthening you in that valley.

Mountaintops are great, but the valley is where fruit grows. If you are in the valley, know it does serve a purpose because fruit grows in the valley.

Because of Him, #HopePrevails!

Hope Prevails Book and Hope Prevails Bible Study {hope for overcoming depression}

Available now through book retailers!

Hope Prevails: Insights From a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression and the new companion Hope Prevails Bible Study help the reader understand how depression comes to be, recover their joy, reclaim their peace, and re-establish their true identity, while knowing their worth, remembering their secure destiny, and being confident that nothing separates them from God’s love.