Okay. What should I do? Sometimes I get so discouraged, embittered, and apathetic that I feel like I will never get out of the bottom of the valley. I am amazed that I even managed to make it to worship this morning. This “Death Valley” seems to be never ending. The sand of bitterness blinds me to the direction I need to go. The dry winds of apathy dehydrates my joy and strength. The cold nights numb my heart, yet the hut mid-day sun heats up my anger. Where is the joy that is supposed to be mine?
Let me tell you, it is not easy to get out of the valley. As a matter in fact, getting out may take awhile. But don’t get discouraged, because God is bigger than the valley. Instead of the valley swallowing you up, God will swallow you up in his joy.
But it is so hard to see that when you are in the bottom of Death Valley. All you see are bones and sand as far as the eye can see. If there seems to be no way out, you are looking in the wrong place. So, where should I look if I feel trapped in the valley?
Do what Jesus did
Hebrews chapter 2 tells us that Jesus shared in the same flesh and blood that we have. He was made like is in ALL things. Chapter four tells us that he was tempted in all things as we have. So Jesus knew what it was like to be in the valley. He walked the same lonesome valley that you may be in right now. He had the same desert sand blowing in his face. Did he stay in the desert? No. How did he keep from getting stuck there?
He slowed down.
How in the world does slowing down keep you from getting stuck in the valley? Besides, how do you know Jesus slowed down? He had so much to do. Don’t you think he would have attacked it at full speed to make sure he got as much done as possible in the little time that he had?
Before we go any further, let me ask this. Did Jesus practice what he preached? Of course he did, all the way down to losing your life in order to find it. He was a man of integrity. I want you to keep that in mind as we look at his instructions to slow down. He would tell us to do whatever he himself does.
I remember coming out of the house one day to find my boys huddled together silently on the sidewalk. They weren’t running around as they normally did when the played in the yard. I had to wonder what in the world they were up to. When I looked closer, I noticed they were watching in wide eyed wonder at a line of ants as they made their way from some far away location back to their home in the ground. Time seemed to stand still as they quietly watched these wondrous creations of God go about their business.
Have you ever noticed how children are completely captivated by the wonder of creation? They watch silently and wonder at the way of a grasshopper, or a sparrow, or a single flower. At some point, they will grow up and will most likely not notice these things. If they do notice, they may analyze and explain it all with scientific terms. After all, who in their adult life has time to just sit and wonder at the simple beauty of God’s creation?
Was Jesus child-like in this way? Was he one to slow down and observe God’s creation? I want you to notice what he teaches on this and how he teaches it in Matthew 6:24-34.
"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ’What will we eat?’ or ’What will we drink?’ or ’What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Jesus tells us not to be anxious. Anxiety causes people to be high strung. It causes frayed nerves and a constant hurrying here and there. It causes high blood pressure and irritability. If a person is high strung, it doesn’t take much to snap. Jesus prefaced this teaching by saying, “You cannot serve God and material things.” Material things are so very fragile. A bad investment, a fire, a wreck, or any number of things can bring material things crashing down around you.
But I want you to notice HOW Jesus teaches this lesson. First he says “Look” at the birds. Then he says “observe” or “consider” the lilies of the field. Then he talks about the grass of the field. He is telling them to SLOW DOWN and look around. You can tell a lot about God from his creation. Stop. Consider. Contemplate. Just as a child looks and is lost in the wonder of God’s creation, Jesus says to consider. Jesus must have done this often because so many of his lessons come from things such as sheep, seasons, hairs on the head, trees, and other such things that he observed and considered around him. No wonder he wants us to be as children!
It is only through slowing down and contemplating God, yourself, and life that you can get a better perspective on it.
For many of us, slowing down means some restructuring of our priorities, and perhaps our way of thinking. It does not mean you are lazy. If your are accustomed to staying busy and working hard, it may be hard to slow down. Staying busy may seem virtuous while idle hands may seem sinful. After all, they say that idle hands are the devils workshop. However, don’t forget that God both sanctified and commanded rest for his people. There were Sabbath days, Sabbath years. These were designed to be a time a rest, recharging, and reflection. We have long recognized that many of the laws were for their own good physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. The Sabbath was no different. Even though the Sabbath command has gone the way of the Old sacrifices, the need to slow down and reconnect has not. This leads me to our next point.
He slowed down so he could pray
Mere contemplation is not enough. There is another activity that goes hand in hand with this contemplation. Notice what Jesus does in Mark 1:35 – “And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.”
In Luke 22:39, Luke mentions that going off to pray was his “custom” or “habit.” He would have “quiet time” with just him and God. Most of the time it was out in his creation, on a mountain, or some place like that. His prayer life was so remarkable that his disciples asked him to teach them to pray as well. There was so much in the world that could have distracted him, especially when he was in the valley. But he never lost sight of his true love.
It’s kind of like a marriage. It is more than a mere coincidence that God describes his relationship with his people in terms of marriage. Those of you who have been married for any length of time know that good marriages don’t just happen. There are many things that can keep you so busy that they distract you from each other. I remember one time when I was doing something in the evening while Stacey was trying to have a conversation with me. I kept doing the “uh-huh” and agreeing with everything she said though I really wasn’t hearing what she was saying. Of course none of you men here today would every do anything like that right? Well, anyway, I think she caught on, because her next question was, “Do you think I should make myself a dress using pickles and peanut butter?” And I said, “uh-huh.” Boy was I in trouble.
I have since learned that I need to STOP what I am doing and just spend time BEING with my wife. We don’t necessarily have to DO anything, but we do need to spend time BEING with each other and reconnecting.
That is what we need to do periodically with God, just as Jesus did. We need to STOP what it is we are doing and reconnect. This also applies especially to those of us who have made it our life work to preach the word because we can be especially blind to the fact that we are losing touch with God even though we are preaching his word regularly.
I am convinced that most of us do not pray enough. For some of us it is because we are so busy in the valley we have lost sight of God. For others it is because we don’t know how to really pray to God. Maybe part of the problem is we have just not spent enough time contemplating God as Jesus demonstrated. This truly hits home with me because I have never really been satisfied with the way I pray.
How do I get my prayer life the way it should be? There is a reason why they call it a spiritual “discipline.” Like so many other disciplines, it only gets better with practice. A child doesn’t learn to express his desires, emotions or thoughts overnight. Even as a teen or young adult, many people still struggle with expressing themselves. So don’t despair as you try to express yourself to God. It will come with practice and time. Oh, and by the way, if you can’t find the right words, Romans 8 tells us that the spirit intercedes with us with groanings to deep for words. So we have someone who will speak to God on our behalf even when we don’t have the vocabulary to do so.
I would like to see us do a LOT more praying this year. We have several people who are struggling with family, sickness, or other challenges. Let’s spend time praying for them. Let’s also spend time praying with them as well.
We have a campaign coming up. Let’s spend time praying that we would effectively plant the seed. The only way to really be effective praying is through quiet time and contemplation. I want to note that when Jesus contemplated things, he didn’t JUST contemplate things in nature that wound up being a life lesson for himself and for those he taught. He also contemplated people. Do you remember his reaction as he approached Jerusalem? He wept for them! All those lost people, and he wept for them. Let’s contemplate the lost in our own community, and pray that God would use us to share the Gospel with them.
We have elders who desire to lead the congregation to better spiritual health. Let’s pray God’s blessing on them. We have deacons who serve this congregation with their abilities. Let’s pray for them. We also have leaders who lead our community, our state, and our country. The Bible says to pray for them.
We need to spend more time together. Jesus sometimes “retreated” and either prayed by himself, or with his disciples. We all need retreat from time to time. I would like to suggest planning a retreat for the purpose of slowing down, contemplating, and prayer. We ought to do that at least once a year if not more often. Wednesday evenings used to be called “mid week prayer meetings.” We need to get back to making prayer central in our meetings.
If we are stuck in the valley, maybe it is a sign we need to pray more.
So how do I start? Let me suggest these things:
1. First of all, set aside quiet time on a daily basis. Use this time to reflect on your day, on God, and keep a journal where you write your reflections, and even your prayers.
2. Second, spend time praying with your spouse, or with a close friend. Do this at appointed times. As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another.
3. Third, read your Bible, especially the scriptures concerning prayer. You will find many of them in today’s bulletin. But also spend time reading the Psalms and other wisdom books such as Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Habbakuk. Communication with God is not a one way street. He has revealed himself not only in nature, but through his written word.
4. Read some devotional classics. The pilgrims progress, my utmost for his highest, or power for living are all excellent to get you in the frame of mine for contemplation
