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..
There are many valleys we Christians have to go through. In this sermon I want us to concentrate briefly on TWO of the “valleys” God allows us to go through.
I. THE VALLEY OF DISEASE.
Every Christian should read as many books as he can by pundits who can tell us how we can best take care of our bodies. Every year God’s people spend billions of dollars on doctors, surgery, and medication all because of the way they abuse their bodies. These bodies that God made are magnificent, but not indestructible. One of the fastest ways to destroy them is to abuse them through poor nutrition and sleeping habits.
However, did you know you can eat the most nutritious food and sleep eight hours every night and still get sick. Why? Because SICKNESS is a VALLEY we all go through at one time or other.
Regardless how righteous a person may be, this is a valley we all face occasionally. Why? Because it is during times of sickness many have gotten closer to God than they had ever been before. In fact, many have gotten so close to God that they prayed for the Lord to take them to be with Him during those times. Not necessarily because of the pain they were experiencing, but because of the closeness to God that they were experiencing. They lost all desire to stay here on earth. They had but one desire and that was to be with Him.
All sicknesses do not come as a result of bad nutrition, as some may believe. Many times sickness comes to the righteous man or woman because the CERTAIN RESULTS that GOD DESIRES can only be accomplished in the lives of God’s people as they go through the VALLEY OF SICKNESS.
Illus: The Bible tells us that Job was a “perfect and upright” man. He went through the VALLEY OF SICKNESS AND SUFFERING as few have ever gone through. He was smitten from head to toe with painful boils.
If Job had gone to a doctor, the doctor would have told him, “These boils are caused by a certain condition in your body because of a lack of proper nutrition.” However, that doctor’s diagnosis would have been completely wrong. Job’s boils had nothing to do with poor nutrition. God DESIRED that Job fulfill what God had purposed for him to do. Job could not reach that goal if God had not allowed him to have that “valley” experience.
The Bible tells us Job was “a perfect and upright” man. Job walked close to the Lord, but I can promise you that when Job walked through the VALLEY OF SICKNESS and SUFFERING he walked closer to God than he ever had before in his life.
Illus: Have you noticed that when some of these little children are walking in familiar territory they might walk 25 to 50 feet from you? However, when they are walking in darkness in unfamiliar territory they want you to hold them in your arms and that little voice says, “Daddy, I am scared.” At that time that child is closer to you than at any other time.
We are all forced to walk through THE VALLEY OF SICKNESS and SUFFERINGS. Also, we are forced to walk through...
II. THE VALLEY OF DOUBTS.
When we are on the MOUNTAIN TOP it seems that we can reach up and touch the bottom of heaven.
So often we find ourselves on the MOUNTAIN TOP one day and in THE VALLEY the next. When we are in the valley we feel we are ten million miles away from God.
Not only do we feel like that, but Bible characters also had that happen to them.
For example, the Bible tells us that there was none born of women to be found that was greater than John the Baptist. John the Baptist had been chosen to be the harbinger of the Lord. He saw the Lord coming one day and pointed to Him and said, “...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29b) The day John said that he was “on a roll,” -- he was on the MOUNTAIN TOP.
Later that same man was locked up in prison for preaching the gospel. He walked through the dark valley called the VALLEY OF DOUBTS. Look at Matthew 11:2-3. We read, “Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?”
John had some serious doubts. He actually began to doubt the deity of Christ. As he was walking through that valley he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “...Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?”
Even though God’s Word contains thousands of promises, when we walk through the VALLEY OF DOUBT it is as if God had not made even one promise.
Illus: Why is it that if you tell a man there are 581 trillion stars he will believe you, but if you place a sign before him which says, “WET PAINT” he does not believe you?
Why is it that when GOOD THINGS happen to us we feel that God is with us, but when BAD THINGS happen we feel God has deserted us?
John the Baptist had some wonderful MOUNTAIN-TOP EXPERIENCES. During those times he could point to the Savior and say, “...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” However, when he was walking in THE VALLEY he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “...Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?”
Listen, do not forget this. The same God that is God of the MOUNTAINS is the same God as the God of the VALLEYS.
In I Kings 20, we read about the God of the VALLEY and the God of the MOUNTAINS.
Illus: In I Kings 20, is the story of the Syrians coming against God’s people. Since they wanted to overcome them, they wanted to attack them when it would be easiest to defeat them. They came to the conclusion that the best time to attack would be when they were IN THE VALLEY. Why did they reach that conclusion? Look at I Kings 20:23, “And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.”
So, that was exactly what they did. But, even though the strategy of the Syrians seemed to be sound enough, still instead of defeating God’s people, they were defeated by God’s people! Why? Look at verse 28. We read, “And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.”
Can you see the lesson. God wants to teach us, even when we are in THE VALLEY OF DOUBT, that not only is He THE GOD OF THE MOUNTAINS, BUT HE IS ALSO THE GOD OF THE VALLEYS.
It does not matter what the circumstances might be in our lives, God is with us, to help us, no matter where we might be!
Conclusion:
I. THE VALLEY OF DISEASE
II. THE VALLEY OF DOUBT
