Sermon Central
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God Is A God Of The Mountains And The Valleys
Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Apr 2, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: The Christian life is filled with MOUNTAIN TOP EXPERIENCES and VALLEY EXPERIENCES.
We all enjoy the MOUNTAIN TOP experiences. In God’s Word we find the writers used many superlatives to describe the blessings God bestows upon us. We are told that a good writer never uses too many superlatives for fear of overstating their case. They are to be reserved for special occasions that merit their use. However the men who penned God’s Word were not overstating their case when they described God’s blessings that we often refer to as MOUNTAIN-TOP EXPERIENCES.
Some of the blessings, and their descriptions, are found in...
- Isaiah 55:7. We read that God “ABUNDANTLY” pardons.
- Ephesians 3:19. We read that God’s love “PASSETH KNOWLEDGE.”
- II Corinthians 9:15. We read that His gift of salvation is “UNSPEAKABLE” (PRICELESS).
- John 10:10. We read that His life is “MORE ABUNDANT.”
We also find in God’s Word that life not only consists of MOUNTAIN-TOP EXPERIENCES, but also of VALLEY EXPERIENCES. God, in His wisdom, knows that we have to have the BAD as well as the GOOD.
Illus: Richard Halverson said, “In His providence, God knows how much joy and sorrow, how much pleasure and pain, how much prosperity and poverty is proper for His Child. He knows the correct balance of sunshine and storm, the precise mixture of darkness and light it takes to perfect a son.”
Oh how often, as we live this Christian life, we think we have been placed here just TO DO WHAT WE WANT TO DO. In all actuality we have been placed here TO DO WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO. God has a PLAN FOR THE LIFE OF EACH OF HIS CHILDREN. He knows exactly how many MOUNTAIN-TOP and VALLEY EXPERIENCES it will take to get the RESULTS HE IS LOOKING FOR.
Illus: There was a day when you or I went to buy paint we were limited as to what colors we could obtain. We had to pick what they had on the charts. Now, in this age of computers, a person can find a color ANYWHERE and take that color to the paint store and the salesperson will run that sample under a scanner and the computer will tell just what pigments to mix to make that exact color.
God knows precisely how many MOUNTAIN-TOP EXPERIENCES and VALLEY EXPERIENCES it will take to get us to be in the place, spiritually, where He desires us to be.
When MOUNTAIN-TOP EXPERIENCES come our way we recognize they are blessings from God. However, when the VALLEY EXPERIENCES come our way often we do not want to recognize these too are God’s blessings. Often people want to pass the bad experiences off as bad luck.
Many enjoy reading “Ziggy” in the cartoon section of many newspapers because of the message “Ziggy” conveys to us about life.
Illus: Such was the case in one week’s cartoon. It pictured “Ziggy” sitting in a chair at the end of a long, hard week. It had been a week of VALLEY EXPERIENCES. He reflected back.
- MONDAY. He read his horoscope in the paper and it told him to go back to bed.
- TUESDAY. Opportunity knocked while he was taking the garbage out.
- WEDNESDAY. His new bedroom suit was diagnosed as having Dutch-elm disease.
- THURSDAY. His phone rang three times with obscene calls for his pet parrot.
- FRIDAY. He had to pay the library fee on an overdue book called, “How To Improve Your Memory.”
- Then SATURDAY. It looked as if things were getting better, but they got worse. Saturday morning his doorbell rang. When he answered it, it was the man who delivers sweepstakes checks and he had a ten million dollar check in his hands. He asked Ziggy for directions to his neighbor’s house.
As we live our Christian life we all have to keep in mind that God DESIRES that we accomplish certain things much the same way a parent desires for his children. In order for God to accomplish these things in our lives he uses MOUNTAIN-TOP EXPERIENCES and VALLEY EXPERIENCES.
We have to accept the VALLEY EXPERIENCES, not as streaks of bad luck, but as the providence of God Who is doing only what is best for us. I Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.”
In Psalm 23:4, David had said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley...” Notice, David said we “walk through,” these valleys. We do not die in them.
Always be skeptical of a preacher who wants to paint you a picture of the Christian life as being a life of MOUNTAIN-TOP EXPERIENCES. He is telling you what you want to hear, but he is not telling you what God wants you to hear..
