Although in our walk in Life, we sometimes view our failures and shortcomings as a badge displaying our unrighteousness before God; it is not. Rather, we must come to understand that all things works only for the good of the child, man, or woman who loves God.
How does our hurting one another work toward our good? How does our being hurt work for our advancement? It does because as a child, man, or woman of God; we are always striving for that prize of our higher calling in Jesus the Christ. We must go through this stuff as we mature. David said in Psalm 23, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death; I will fear no evil because you are with me.’
We must not only walk through the valley of the shadows of Death, the place where sin resides; we sometimes find ourselves stopping to stare. We take in the unrighteous scenery, so God can form our testimony about how the power of God protected, instructed, and guided us as we walked out of the valley.
Revelation states ’They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.’ As we come out of the valley, God resurrects or rebirth our past failures and shortcomings as our testimony to the glory of God because He delivered us from the valley.
David continues, ‘your rod and your staff; they comforted me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anointed my head with oil and my cup overflows. I know your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the household of God forever.’ As the children, men, and women of God, we must realize that everything David declared that God did was done while he was in the valley.
This is why we are to be lowly and humble. It is because our testimony about being blessed while traveling through the valley is being formed by God. When the Holy Spirit of God reveals our sins and mistakes, rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all because the Lord is still changing and improving you. Therefore, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which goes beyond anything we can understand, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
In conclusion, as we continue to walk out of the valley as the qualified men and women of God, let us be concerned only with whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy in our walk toward the household of God. Whatever we have learned, received, and heard from the Holy Spirit in our valley experience, we should immediately put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with us as we travel along the way.
I want to know Jesus, the Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. I want to become like him in his death, and be resurrection from the dead. However, since I have not already obtained all this, nor been made perfect, I will continue to press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of for me. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, there is one thing for me to do. I must forget what is behind and continue to strain toward what is ahead. I must press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus, the Christ.
Likewise, all of us who are mature men and women of God should take such a view of things. And if on some point, we think differently, that too God will make clear to us. Therefore, let us live up to what we have already attained. Let us join with other believers in following Jesus, the Christ example and taking note of those who live according to the pattern of the Word of God. For, as Paul has often told us before, now I say again, many people live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Because of this, their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Although, their mind is on earthly things, our citizenship is in heaven. Moreover, we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus, the Christ. Because of the power that enables him, only he can bring everything under his control and transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
