There Has To Be More To It

 Not many of us have faced a lot of “valley of the shadow of death” seasons in our life and yet I dare say we have all faced “valley” moments. I have had my share of these and I have to admit some of them felt like the shadow of death. Life is not always easy or fair.

As followers of Jesus there is an expectation that we will keep these moments to ourselves or just pretend they don't exist. I think this is because too many of us believers don’t want to consider the hard questions about our faith. It’s supposed to be all butterflies and daffodils, isn’t it?

It’s not often a lack of faith that finds us in those valleys. What we have to consider is that life is found in the valleys. The mountain top seasons are fantastic and have a breathtaking view that gives us perspective and breathes new life into these old bones, but growth, real growth is found in the challenges of those valleys. Not that Father has planned those valleys but he has planned for them and he never misses an opportunity to help us grow.

Valleys with road maps are great but most don’t have them. Most of them include loss in one form or another. Some of them are so dark you don’t know which way is up any more. These are those moments that you cling to the Lord and make declarations based on the promises you have experienced in the past. Psalm 91 comes to mind:

“I say to the Lord, ‘You are my refuge, my stronghold! You are my God - the one I trust!” (2)

These are the moments you try to climb into the Word, you surround yourself with worship, you write out your prayers, have long discussions with the Lord or whatever “you are my God - the one I trust” looks like to you. For many of us it is the “moment by moment” clinging to Jesus because everything else is shifting and he is the only thing solid in our life. But that is only the beginning place of the valley. Father has more than this in mind for us.

I was in conversation with Spirit the other day and he was pointing out a few things to me about the valley experience and one of them was that quality of trust matters here. This desperation clinging is an okay beginning point but he has called us to a greater relationship than clinched-eyes clinging. Through another preacher he reminded me of  1 Thessalonians 5:

“Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (16-18)

Those three activities are not mere valley activities but are relationship growth activities for all seasons. These are what we do because they are the fruit of who we are, and after entering the valley and regaining our senses we can act on who we are.

Rejoice. Not just on the mountaintops but in the valleys as well. We rejoice because of who Jesus is and who we are in him. We rejoice because he has never failed us. We rejoice because he is good and that goodness never changes. It is the reason Paul told the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always. It was so important that he repeated himself, Rejoice. After the desperate “cling and declaration”, rejoicing is the next step and demonstrates that you are living what you are declaring. We do not rejoice in our circumstances but in the One who has promised never to forsake us in those circumstances and who has said he is the solution. 

Pray continually. This is the ongoing reminder that you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. It is a reminder that he is involved in every detail of your life. It is great to discuss every detail of your life with him, your opinions, your dreams and desires. It is an open and honest conversation with the one who knows your heart and mind, the one is for you and not against you. It is a conversation throughout the day, a continual conversation.

Give thanks in every situation. That is powerful. That means in everything, always find the reason why you maintain a life of thanksgiving. This is a powerful weapon against the enemy in that valley because he is there to destroy you by discouraging you, to separate you from Father. But when you set your mind on things above, thanksgiving is a natural expression in dark times, Consider what Paul said to the Colossians.

First he told them to look, seek out, the things that are above:

“... look for the things that are above where Christ is sitting at God’s right side.”

And then he tells them, once they can “see” these things to set theirr thoughts on these things:

“Think about the things above and not things on earth.”

The enemy will try to keep our eyes fixed on the things of this earth because they are death to us, depressing, filled with false hope, and promising to give us what we already possess in Jesus. 

Rejoice always, Pray continually, Give thanks in every situation.

Because I can say he is my God and that I trust him in this valley, I can also move past desperation into fruitful relationship. This is very fertile ground, even if it is uncomfortable at times. How much better to go through it laughing, dancing, shouting with joy in the presence of my King.

Is The Church Presenting The Reality Of Jesus?

Don't you ever get the feeling that we are getting it wrong? Don't you ever sit in Church and feel that we are being presented with a sanitized God? After all, this is the God who sacrificed his Son, killing him on the cross, so that we could be adopted as his children. It seems odd that this same God desires to give us everything we want and to spoil us with what we ask. Is he really interested in seeing us all wealthy, healthy and satisfied in this place? (There is a difference between satisfied and content) If that is how you see Father then you are not being presented with the true revelation of our God found in the Bible and understood through the Spirit.

There are two things going on in our life when we serve the Lord in this world. First, there is our service to him as we deal with people with compassion and grace while presenting them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to make disciples. But while we are doing this, our wonderful God is also developing us, helping us grow and mature. He does this in the messiness of life and ministry.

Our Father has no desire to spoil us but he wants to bless us, equip us with what we need in our service to him. If we need a bicycle to get around to minister in our neighbourhood he will provide the means; if we need a multi-million dollar jet he will provide it. He tells us to ask. He will provide for where he has placed us. He will also lead us through the mess and ugliness of life in our development. The world is a messy and ugly place in comparison to his glory. We need to understand that these two things, his provision and our development,  are not contrary but have different purposes.

At the very foundation of our relationship is dependence. That is hard for us because from birth we have been taught to be independent, but when we come to Jesus we are taught to depend on him for everything. He isn't interested in what we have to offer. He wants us to empty ourselves and allow him to use us as he needs us, in whatever capacity, with the tool of a bicycle or a jet. Sometimes, he needs to lead us through difficult times in our training so we don't rely on ourselves but learn to turn to him in every situation. Paul the apostle wrote:

 Brothers and sisters, we don’t want you to be unaware of the troubles that we went through in Asia. We were weighed down with a load of suffering that was so far beyond our strength that we were afraid we might not survive. It certainly seemed to us as if we had gotten the death penalty. This was so that we would have confidence in God, who raises the dead, instead of ourselves. (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)

I don't know about you but I have had periods in my life that felt like I was going to be destroyed. I had a choice in each incident to try to help myself (which was actually beyond my ability or anyone else's) or to turn to the Lord. I spent hours, days, weeks, in worship, reminding myself who my Lord is and what he promised. I washed myself in Scripture and soaked myself in worship. It felt like I was at the point of death but sustained me and eventually interceded and rescued me. In those moments I learned that my strength was not sufficient but my Lord's was. I need him for everything and I dare not try to serve him in my limited abilities.

Maybe that is hard for you to understand. Just keep in mind that you have been raised by your parents and society to be independent, so the thought of not relying on yourself can be foreign and frightening. But the only way we can serve our Lord is understanding our constant dependence on the Vine (Jesus). A branch cannot support itself, but from the sap we receive through the vine (Jesus) he is able to produce fruit through us. The fruit is not for the branch but for those who would eat from it.

Our life is a classroom and Father is the teacher, training and transforming us in the power of the Spirit to be like the Son, Jesus. So let us submit ourselves, learn our lessons and grow into the fullness of Jesus Christ. Doing this will mean that we never lose our joy or peace, when we realize that our God is in all the messiness of life. Never stop singing his praise. Trust. Obey. Lean.

The Presence Of The Lord Changes Everything

We all have our share of problems and each person thinks theirs is greater than any others. One thing you can be sure of - today you will face difficulties. Jesus even warned us that life would not be fair to us. The thing is, make sure you are not the source of your troubles. We have enough to face without causing unnecessary pain to ourselves.

Now I am not trying to be a downer today because along with the facts of life is the reality of our part in it. When we are facing difficulties we have a few choices in the direction we will head. We can choose to fight it, complaining all the way. We can choose to deny it until it destroys us. Or we can deal with it using the tools Jesus has given us.

One of the greatest gifts we have been given is the constant abiding presence of the Lord. We may not always remember and we may not always practice his presence, but when we do, he becomes our greatest source of strength, encouragement, and wisdom. There is a line in psalm 73 that always reminds me of this fact. The psalmist was struggling over the apparent prosperity of the wicked and he could not understand until he humbled himself and entered the presence of the Lord:

When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end. (Psalm 73:16-17)

Too often we make our struggles harder than they need to be. Father never intended for us to face anything on our own. But all too often we try to take short cuts in the relationship. We will fire off a few quick prayers and expect the situation to be removed, but Father wants intimacy. He will resist us so that we are forced to take the time to consider the situation. He will delay the response until we realize what we have done and come into the awareness of his presence. He is always present but we are often too busy with life to notice.

Taking the time to be aware and to sit in Father's presence is the greatest step we can take to overcoming the difficulties of our day. Whether Father removes them or gives us the strength to overcome them, it starts with our relationship with him. The presence of the Lord changes everything, and the joy we experience from knowing he is with us is the perfect way to face every new day.

Purpose In The Dark Days

Ever wonder why it took ten plagues to rescue Israel from Egypt? There must have been a more efficient way of doing it. Why didn't God just start with the last plague? Why didn't he just strike them all blind and let Israel simply walk out? There had to have been a faster way of doing it. Except fast is not always best. God is not above getting a bit messy to bring about his purpose. We find the reasons in Scripture:

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them. (Exodus 7:5)

What God was doing was leaving a lasting imprint on the world. Even though there were those who worshipped him they did so without knowing him because God had yet to make himself known. There were those who knew of him because they saw his imprint all around them but they did not actually know him. Even Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not know him as he was about to make himself known to Israel, Egypt and the rest of the world. God was rescuing his people in a way that no one could claim to have rescued them but God.

But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. (Exodus 9:16)

No one had ever witnessed what was being witnessed in Egypt. No one had experienced God in this way. He was showing both his might and his compassion. He was revealing that he is the God of the covenant, that he keeps his promises. He was announcing that it was time for his name to be declared in all the earth.

... that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord. (Exodus 10:2)

God chose this harder way of doing things to entrench into the memory of his people what he had done for them. He wanted them to remember it was he who rescued them by the might of his hand. He wanted them to remember for generations to come that he had selected them to be the nation he would glorify himself through. He wanted them to remember that he keeps his promises. He wanted them remember his covenant with Abraham. He wanted them to remember. And they did.

All through Scriptures God's people remembered this particular moment in time. They remembered this act of love. They remembered that he is the God of the impossible. They called upon this moment every time things looked impossible for them. They remembered and were encouraged in their trust. They trusted because of what God had done in the past.

Now let's consider our own lives and our questions of why God didn't chose a different way, an easier way for us? Sure, he could have rescued us any way that he wanted and he chose the way he wanted. In those difficult days he was giving to us a testimony that we would lean on during other dark days. He was reminding us that he alone is our rescuer. He wanted no one else to take the credit for what he was doing. He is jealous about his relationship with you and he was using that moment to glorify himself through you so that everyone who looked to you would see what he was doing.

As we walk with him through this life he has given us, we must always keep in mind, it is about more than just us. We need to have a bigger picture of things to understand that God uses every opportunity to glorify himself through us for the benefit of others. Sometimes this means taking a longer route to our destination. It's not about ease or efficiency; it is about the Father's will and purpose through us. Rejoice, for God is good all the time.

Stuck Between A Rock and A Hard Place

What would you do if you had an enemy infront of you and a wall behind you? What would you think if you knew God had purposely placed you there?