Living in Our Valley
How will you journey through the valley? Each blog in this series has ended with this question. How you journey through the trials and valleys in life is a choice. The choice in the valley is whether you will respond with trust in God or trust in yourself. The outcome of the valley you are in directly relates to your response. As we have studied the story of Jehoshaphat and the people, we have seen them respond biblically and walk through a series of steps. Here are the first 8 steps they carried out:
#1 Seek the Lord
#2 Get to Church
#3 Remind the Lord
#4 Seek the safe place
#5 Not every battle needs to be fought
#6 Family matters
#7 Fear not
#8 Give thanks
The next step in the process of effectively coming out on the other side of the valley is probably the most difficult to carry out.
“And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” 2 Chronicles 20:20
#9 Believe
This step stems from a heart of trust that God truly does have your best interests at heart. Has it ever occurred to you that nothing has never occurred to God? God created the beginning and fully sees the ending. He created each of us, though, with a free will to choose how the ending may occur. We point fingers, create excuses, and establish outcomes in our minds that are often fictional when we are in the valley. We spend too much time worrying about what tomorrow may hold rather than focusing on what God has given us today. Our today is all we can face. Our today is all we are held accountable for. We quote verse after verse, but often lack the belief to take God’s promises at face value. Nothing comes to us that hasn’t already sifted through the hands of God. We need to be reminded of the verses from part 3 of this blog series.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11
“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” 2 Corinthians 9:8
“If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” John 14:15-16
When we talked about reminding the Lord of His promises, we must understand that just reminding Him is not the end-all. We must believe that God is faithful to His Word and will complete it in and through each of us. God is not a man that He will lie. What God says, He will accomplish. The challenge is that we do not always believe. With that lack of belief, we take things into our own hands and say, “I have greater plans than God.” You might pause and suggest that this is not what you are actually saying, but I would argue that when you do not believe God, you are putting your trust in yourself alone.
The final step in walking through the valley of trials is:
#10 Worship
“And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.” 2 Chronicles 20:21
Do you remember the scene in Facing the Giants where the coach is asking the team what their purpose is? He goes on to tell the team that if they win, they will praise Him, and if they lose, they will praise Him. He challenges them with the point that part of fulfilling their purpose for the Kingdom is understanding this essential truth: No matter what happens, worship and praise to the Lord are an essential part of life. This is the same in each of our lives. Worship is an intentional process of creating a pure heart before God that gives Him all the glory. After all, that is our primary purpose in life—to bring glory to God in all that we say and do. Whether on the mountaintop or in the valley, we all have a purpose for worshiping Him.
How will you journey through the valley?
Mr. Euler has over 20 years of experience working in Christian Schools, 13 as a Head of School and is currently the Head of School at Word of God Academy, Shreveport, LA., a ministry of Word of God Ministries.
Website www.wogacademy.org
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