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.
Ever since the fall our lives are hard – life is not easy going, it is a constant struggle. Those people who think that everything will be plain sailing are living in a fantasy world and living a live of make believe, lives of denial.
When we wake up to the fact that life is hard, then it won’t catch us by surprise when things don’t go our way. The Christian life is a struggle, but praise God we are not alone.
Christ walks with us as we journey through life.
Christ guides us as we navigate through life.
Christ fights with us as we battle through life.
Christ equips us as we struggle through life.
Yes life is hard, but we are not alone.
c. Life Is Temporal - James 4:14
This verse speaks to the brevity and uncertainty of human life. The truth is that none of us know when we will reach the end of our lives. A trip to the cemetery confirms this truth! After all, there are graves of all sizes there. It would do us well this morning to consider just what could come about in our lives during the course of this year, the future is coming and will soon be upon us. We had better be ready for it. Simply denying what may come will not stop it from happening! Let’s notice some things that could come about in your future or in mine for that matter.
Death - Heb. 9:27 - We are all going to die, if the Lord doesn’t come first! We should be prepared for eternity!
Rapture - 1 Thes. 4:16-17; John 14:1-3 - Jesus Christ is going to return to this world. We need to be ready, for at any moment, Jesus may come to claim His children.
Illness - Our flesh is prone to many calamities! We never know when we will be stricken with some dreaded disease. You hear of so many people being affected by cancer. It could touch any of us without warning!
Tragedy - John 16:33 - At any time in the days ahead, our homes, our families, our communities can be invaded by the dark spectre of tragedy. You can’t plan for it because you do not know when it is coming!
The point is that you and I do not know when something unforeseen and unexpected will happen in our lives. I look through my Bible and I find places where people expected to do great things in the future, but their hopes were dashed by the unrelenting waves of times upon the rocks that line the shores of providence. Notice a few of these with me. Belshassar - Daniel 5, The Rich Fool - Luke 12:12-21, The mother of Sisera - Judges 4:18-22; Judges 5:28, Judas Iscariot - Matt. 27:3-5
Psalms 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
2. The Valleys Give Us A Vision Of Ourselves
a. How We React In The Valley - 2 Corinthians 1:7-10
Don’t ever think that we wind up in a valley on accident – if we think that our trials are the result of fate or chance then we have no hope because nobody can control that. If we are in control of everything then the situation is as equally hopeless. But, if God is in control, and we trust Him, then we can overcome our valley. God encourages us in all our tribulations by teaching us from His Word that it is He who permits trials to come.
Our first reaction in the valley should be a recognition (realization) that we are weak in ourselves. God wants us to trust Him –not our abilities or our experiences but Him. When we feel self confident and able to meet the enemy on our own strength, we fail miserably 2 Corinthians 12:10 For when I am weak, then am I strong.
God works out His purpose in the valleys of life, if we yield to Him, trust Him, and obey what He tells us to do. Valleys can increase our faith and strengthen our prayer life. They can draw us closer to other Christians, and the valleys can be used to glorify God.
b. How We Grow In The Valley - 2 Timothy 4:16-17a
We must always remember that these valleys are here for a reason – we could ask the Lord why we find ourselves in the same valley time and time again and the Lords reply might be – “because you still need to learn the lesson I was trying to teach you the first time you were in this valley.”
Paul’s life is one that seemed to be spent in valleys – but he grew each time. The Lord had promised to stay with Paul, and He had kept His promise.
When Paul had been discouraged in Corinth, the Lord came to him and encouraged him (Acts 18:9-11).
After he had been arrested in Jerusalem he was visited by the Lord and encouraged (Acts 23:11).
During that terrible storm when Paul was on board the ship, the Lord had given him the courage needed (Acts 27:22)
Now in this Roman prison Paul experienced the strengthening presence of the Lord who had promised to never leave him.
It would have been quite understandable if Paul had said, Lord why me? Or if he had just given up – but look how he grew, after each valley, after each trial he was stronger spiritually.
Even now, when he is on trial, he’s not concerned for his own safety or comfort. His concern is the preaching of God’s Word so that Gentiles might be saved, and he was not ashamed of that Gospel.
What a man. Friends forsake him, and he prays that God would forgive them. His enemies try him and he looks for opportunities to witness to them and tell them how to be saved. What a difference it makes when the Holy Spirit controls your life.
3. The Valleys Give Us A Vision Of Souls
a. Gives Us Realization That They Are Perishing – Matthew 9:37
Jesus looked at the crowds around Him and He saw a “plentious” harvest. I am sure all the disciples saw were people pushing and shoving to get close to their leader. But, Jesus saw more! He saw men who needed to be saved by grace. He saw a harvest that was ripe for the picking! He looked beyond their condition and their destination and He saw a people that could be delivered, changed and saved! He did not see the problems, only the potential!
What do we see when we look at the people all around us? Do we see sinners lost in their filthiness and vileness? Do we see people who live like dogs and don’t care? Do we see people as they are, or do we see them as the Lord could make them if they came to Him? That is the view Jesus had of lost men. He saw them not as they were, but as they could be by grace! We need that same kind of vision if we are going to reach men in this day and time!
There are people all around who need Jesus! The harvest truly is plentiful. Many are ripe for the picking, we merely need to see it and do something about it!
b. Gives Us Compassion - Mark 6:34
The Bible tells us that Jesus “was moved with compassion toward them”. When you see a person with a need, there are several emotional responses you can have.
Apathy – This word refers to an absence of emotion. You see the need, but you do not care. You are unmoved by it. There is a lot of apathy in our world today.
Sympathy – This word refers to a harmony of feeling. In other words, you see a need and you know how they feel because you have felt that way too.
Empathy – This word speaks of an emotion that is stronger that sympathy. When you empathize with someone it means that you hurt with them. It means that you share the pain they feel.
Compassion – The word compassion, as it is used in the Bible means, “To be moved inwardly; to yearn with tender mercy, affection, pity and empathy.” It refers to the deepest possible feelings. The phrase, “moved with compassion” means to be moved in the “inner organs”. It has the same idea as our modern expression, “From the bottom of my heart.”
Someone has defined compassion as “Sympathy coupled with a strong desire to help.” Since sympathy refers to “The capacity to share feelings, to enter into the same feelings, to feel the same thing”. So, compassion is “sharing the feelings of others and possessing a desire to help them in their trouble.”
When Jesus saw the people He was touched by their need and He was moved by a strong desire to meet their need. When Jesus looked at the people, He saw them as a flock of lost sheep. He was stirred by the vision of them as helpless lambs, with no one to care about them.
Sheep without a shepherd cannot find their way and are absolutely defenceless – Apart from the intervention of the Heavenly Shepherd, no lost person would ever be able to avoid the wrath of God and the fires of Hell. The lost are in terrible danger!
How do we see people? We often base our evaluation of a person on what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears. What we need to learn is to look past a person’s exterior to see them as they really are. We must see their needs before we can express compassion to them!
Jude 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
