10 The Valley Of Vision Series

The Valley Of Vision – 12th April 2009 am

Isaiah 22:1-5

Background – The people of Judah were behaving like their pagan neighbours and so Isaiah included them in the list of nations that God would judge. In Isaiah’s day, Jerusalem was a “joyous city,” the popular philosophy was …let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. (Isaiah 22:13)

The prophet didn’t participate in these parties, he saw a day when death and destruction would reign in the city and while the people went to the housetops, Isaiah went down into one of the three valley’s around Jerusalem. He saw people dying and he saw the nations rulers fleeing as the enemy approached.

The people would do everything they could to prepare for a long siege; collect armour, fortify the walls, prepare their water supply... they did everything (in their power) but the one thing they didn’t do was turn to the Lord.

One of the most important reasons for valleys in this life is to get our eyes on the right things and to make sure that our vision is not blurred to the important issues.

When we go to Jo’s mum and dads for dinner on a Sunday we like to drive over Llanwyno. You can see for miles and miles. The one thing that struck me though is that at times I could only see the other mountain tops, I couldn’t see the valley below. When we got to a position to actually see the valley it was so far away. From the mountaintop, you cannot see the details of life, just the majesty and beauty. I had to come down to the valley below in order to see life as it really was.

Sometimes, God has to bring us into the valleys below in order to keep our perspective and purpose clear. I want to look this morning at the Valley Of Vision. It certainly has hard places, but it brings us face to face with the realities of life and why the Lord left us here. Mountains have several meanings in the Bible, with one of them meaning good times with little or no problems. We should appreciate the good times, but—if not careful—good times can blur our vision.

Isaiah 22:1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

1. The Valleys Give Us A Vision Of Life

Life is not always a bed of roes and those who live high on emotion usually fall hard. Real life is war in the trenches! The army sometimes will parade in glorious rank and the crowds cheer, but the army was not designed to parade. It was designed to fight.

a. Life Is Purposed – Romans 8:28

Not "most", not "some", but "ALL" Webster - 1.) The whole of, the greatest possible; 2.) Every member or individual part of; 3.) The whole number or sum of; 4.) Every; 5:) Any whatever. In fact, every thing in the life of the child of God is working for your good! Even the things you don’t understand, or even like! Notice some areas where God is working out our good and His glory.

It is easy to see how the sweet things in life work for us. (Home, family, health, wealth, salvation, etc.) These things are the stuff of life that make it good and make us feel good about things. In fact, these blessings from the Lord ought to cause us to want to be better Christians, we should thank and praise Him for His blessings Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name..)

There are several examples in the Word of God where extremely sorrowful things happened to people and it all worked for their good in the end. Ill. Jacob - Gen. 42:36; Judah - Jer. 24:5; The Psalmist - Psa. 119:71; Joseph - Gen. 50:20; Manasseh - 2 Chron. 33:11-12)

Often the sickbed, the valleys of life, or the time of sorrow can out teach the sermon! When God allows a time of sorrow, suffering or pain in our lives, it is always for our good and for His glory. He never said we had to like it, but we should strive to be thankful! Remember, it is the eye that is washed with tears that sees the best!

God uses all the circumstances of life for our good. May not see the good right now, but we can still take comfort and rejoice in the completeness of God’s promise.

b. Life Is Hard – Job 14:1

Trouble – commotion, restlessness (of a horse), crash (of thunder), disquiet, anger: - fear, noise, rage, trouble, (-ing), wrath.