You are my hiding place.
You protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
— Psalm 32:7

Today was heavy.

I felt surrounded—but not by songs of deliverance.
Surrounded by a deep tiredness. The kind that settles in when the valley doesn’t lift, when things stay this way longer than you ever expected.

The weight surprised me. The last couple of weeks, I’ve felt strong. Focused. Driven. Empowered to live—really live—life God’s way. It’s felt like climbing upward, like fuel on a fire. My fire has been burning bright.

And then today, it wasn’t.

Nothing dramatic happened. Nothing new.
Just the quiet realization of how long this road has been.

Today didn’t feel like defeat. It felt like weariness. Like asking, How long, Lord? Not in anger—but in exhaustion. What do we do when it doesn’t feel like it’s getting any better? When the valley stretches on and on?

I think of Elijah—fire falling from heaven on Mount Carmel, rain ending years of drought, and then not long after, finding himself undone. Afraid. Isolated. Worn thin.

Not because God failed.
But because even strong faith can grow tired.

So what does it look like for God to be my hiding place here—not when I feel victorious, but when I feel tired of things being this way? What does it look like to trust that I am still surrounded by Him, even when the song feels faint?

I think the answer comes as we remember.

Songs are powerful—full of emotion and memory. Sometimes, when we feel faint and weary, we need to surround ourselves with a song.

I put on Just You, Even in the Waiting by Valley Creek Worship, and a few simple lines held me:

Your grace is sufficient,
the strength in my weakness.
My hope is Your goodness.
I’ll hold to Your promise,
’cause even in the waiting,
You are never holding out on me.

And that simple song recalibrated me back to the truth. It didn’t change my circumstance. It didn’t speed up the valley. It simply realigned my vision with the truth of who God is.

Because when a season goes on longer than we ever imagined, it’s easy to start believing God is withholding something from us—relief, change, redemption. But He is not holding out, because He is not withholding Himself.

And He is who I need most.

May Your unfailing love surround us, Lord,
for our hope is in You alone.
— Psalm 33:22