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God Of The Valleys: Hope For Life’s Toughest
Moments
God is not merely a God of the hills but a God of the valleys also -
even in the valley God is still God. He is still Sovereign and is always in
control.
.
.
Isaiah
41:10 puts this quite succinctly for us but it also implies that God will
strength and uphold us. God promises not to forsake His people but rather to
make rivers flow, pools of water to come up in the desert and springs to come
up within the valleys.
.
God will provide refreshment and all that we need even
when things feel like they are all going against us. We can be confident that
God is still God, God is still at work and God will always be with us and will
not forsake us. One day He will fill in every valley and bring every mountain
low: He will make all things new!
Steve McClure
In a
slightly roundabout way, my intention here is to write the introduction to my
series as its conclusion.
If you
follow the blog you will know that I have been blogging my way through the
valleys of the Bible.
For
whatever reason it seemed better to get into the heart of the matter rather
than set up where I wanted to take this.
Now
however, we are on the cusp of another trip to Norway where we will be looking
at the theme of Experiencing God in the Valleys and in particular seeking to
bring hope for life’s toughest moments.
In
that regard what follows is a brief introduction to the use of Valleys in the
Bible and some overall key lessons that come up time and time again.
For me
it also serves to help internalise one of the sessions I am giving in Norway on
this very subject!
Why
Valleys?
Some years ago while Debbie and I were
walking she commented on how much she liked valleys: we were in a valley at the
time and many of her favourite hikes include time in the valley.
She suggested we could follow up our series
on Experiencing God in the mountains (2014) with something on valleys.
So we pondered together what the Bible had
to say about valleys.
The Bible actually contains lots of references
to valleys; some literal and some more metaphorical.
Perhaps this should be no surprise given
that the Firstly valleys are good places to camp or to settle.
Valleys seem to play host to a lot of
battles (e.g. David & Goliath in the valley of Elah).
Valleys are places of fertility: things
were grown in valleys precisely because the conditions were helpful for things
to grow (e.g. grapes in the valley of Eshkol).
Valleys are also places for worship:
sometimes this was a positive thing but often it was more of a negative
association (e.g. idolatry in the valley of Ben Hinnom).
Finally valleys are used to describe the
future (e.g. the valley of Decision or the valley of Dry Bones).
The richness of this metaphor is developed
further when we realise that there are five words used for Valley in the Bible
depicting some quite different settings (lowlands, plains, narrow steep gorges,
ravines, wadis and so on).
As seen from the six valleys examined here
these valleys are often difficult (or depicting difficult) places to be.
The main thrust of this blog is summed up
by the following: Even in the valley God is still God, God is still at work and
God is still with us.
We have seen that throughout our journey
and that is where we spend some time here now.
1. God
is still God (1
Kings 20)
We began the series at the Valley of Achor
and in that blog we briefly mentioned 1 Kings 20.
This valley was the scene of a battle
between Ben Hadad (King of Aram) and King Ahab (King of Israel).
God sends a prophet to tip off Israel and
gives them success in battle against all odds.
The Arameans infer that Israel were strong
because their God is a god of the hills and they set in motion a plan to attack
them in the valley.
“Their gods are
gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight
them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they.” - 1 Kings 20:23b
This plans comes to fruition some months
later but it turns out that they got it all wrong. God is not the kind of God
that can be put in a box.
He is not merely a God of the hills but a
God of the valleys also.
“The man of God came up and told the king of Israel,
‘This is what the Lord says: “Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of
the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your
hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.”’” - 1 Kings 20:28
So Israel was victorious again and the
Arameans (including their King) were humbled and defeated.
What we see here is that even in the valley
God is still God. He is still Sovereign and is always in control.
“Can I not do with you… as this potter does?”
2. God
is still at work (Jeremiah
18-19)
We don’t have time to get into these
chapters but there are two ideas that come out strongly.
The first is that the Valley of Ben Hinnom
(renamed the valley of Slaughter) is a place that represented unfaithfulness
for the people of Israel.
We know that Israel was soon to be exiled
from the Promised Land but even in that God was still at work.
Both the prophecy of Jeremiah and Isaiah
describe us as jars of clay and God as the potter.
“Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you
are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” - Isaiah 64:8
Jeremiah develops this further for us as
God shows him the potter working at the wheel. The pot he was shaping is marred
and so he reshapes the pot into something different as seemed best to him…
“3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him
working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred
in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed
best to him. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this
potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so
are you in my hand, Israel.’” - Jeremiah 18:3-6
It’s a great example and a huge
encouragement to us during our time in the valley.
While God is always at work (even in the
valley) there is also a response for us to make in allowing Him to continue
bringing the work that He has begun in us towards completion.
“I
will be with You.”
3. God
is still with us (Isaiah
41, 43)
We could leave it there but there is one
more lesson we need to hear.
Not only is God still God and God still at
work but He also promises to be with us.
Isaiah 41:10 puts this quite succinctly for
us but it also implies that God will strength and uphold us.
I know from my own life how challenging
life in the valley can be and sometimes it feels like we are on our own.
Hindsight is however a great thing and even
when there was only one set of footprints in the sand God has shown me that it
was actually because He was carrying me!
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed,
for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with
my righteous right hand.” -
Isaiah 41:10
A few verses later Isaiah develops this
theme a bit more to include the sense of provision.
God promises not to forsake His people but
rather to make rivers flow, pools of water to come up in the desert and springs
to come up within the valleys.
God will provide refreshment and all that we
need even when things feel like they are all going against us.
“17 The poor and needy search for water, but there is
none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs
within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched
ground into springs.”
- Isaiah
41:17-18
In this passage God makes clear that He
will not only be with us but that none of these things will overwhelm us.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you
walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you
ablaze.”
- Isaiah
43:2
Have times been tough?
Maybe yes or maybe no.
Whichever it is we can be confident that
God is still God, God is still at work and God will always be with us and will
not forsake us.
Not only that but one day He will fill in
every valley and bring every mountain low: He will make all things new!
ABOUT STEVE & DEBBIE
Children
of God, devoted husband and wife to one another and parents to Benjamin (2008),
Naomi (2010), Samuel (2012), Jacob (2014) & Aaron (2016).
Steve
has lived in Southampton (UK) since he came here as an Economics student in
1997. Steve never left after finishing his studies and after an internship
(2000-2001) with a Christian organisation worked for a Pensions administrator
in Salisbury before leaving in 2008 to work with that same Christian
organisation full-time. Debbie studied in Cardiff before moving to Southampton
in 2002 to also serve on the aforementioned internship (2002-2003). That
internship year morphed into a part-time role alongside studying as an
Occupational Therapist. Eventually this developed into a job at Southampton
University Hospital which Debbie did until the arrival of Benjamin.
Alongside
looking after our five beautiful children (all of whom are now at school) we
both continue to work in the area of relational disciple-making; helping others
to grow in their knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have ongoing
opportunities to spend time with some great people both here and overseas as
well as to teach and write about questions of faith.
Most
of the articles featured on this blog are written by Steve but there are also a
few from Debbie (always credited as such).
Debbie is a huge inspiration for Steve and is the real hero in our
family. We trust that all that you read here will be helpful, true to the Bible
and would love to hear your questions, comments and ideas for further
development.
http://www.the-mcclures.co.uk/2019/07/12/god-of-the-valleys-hope-for-lifes-toughest-moments/
You might also like:
God On the
Mountain
Lynda Randle
Bill and Gloria Gaither
CLICK HERE . . . to view complete playlist . .
.
https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/09/god-on-mountain-lynda-randle-bill-and.html
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