When we dare to open up and bare our souls, reveal the deepest and most sacred parts of ourselves with others without fear of judgment or rejection casual relationships give way to intimate ones. Our hearts were created for intimacy; to be known for who we are most authentically. When you think about those people in your life that know you best, they should be the ones who know the real you and not the you that you want them to see and know.
God wants to have this kind of intimate relationship with us, and He, certainly, knows who we truly are, and, yet, we hide from Him, too. Somehow, we are deceived into believing that that there’s a part of ourselves that can be hidden from the watchful and loving gaze of God. We are afraid of His disappointment and, possible, rejection should He see into us right down to all the hidden flaws and secrets. What we don’t realize is God already knows and sees, but it’s not our humanity that defines us in any way, it’s what cannot be seen in the eternal realm.
Valleys cut away all the pretenses and facades that we try to hide behind, even from God. They have a way of breaking down all the barriers and walls that we use to protect ourselves, as we begin to understand that together we all need His grace and long to be known. Maybe it’s the relentless pain and struggle we encounter in our valleys that weaken us to the point of giving up the charade that the mountaintops can so easily accommodate. If that’s true, then we need the valleys in life to wear us down and lead us to a greater intimacy with one another and with God.