Have you ever had a cold that was so bad you felt like you were living in a fog? You just felt horrible, was exhausted, couldn’t do anything, and was beyond miserable—maybe even to the point of despair? So, you do the only thing you can do…sleep. When you wake up, you feel great! The fog is gone, and you’ve regained the clarity that you need to go about your day. It’s as if we’ve been delivered out of that pit of sickness back into life.
Now, maybe you’ve gone through seasons like this, wondering if God is ever going to deliver you from the valley you’re in. Take heart…our God is the God of deliverance.
Sweet, Sweet Deliverance
In last Monday’s blog, we talked about [King] David and how he went through a period of doubt and near defection from God. Finally, in a moment of clarity, David woke up and finally got his confidence back. Instead of focusing on his problems, he started telling himself the truth—several truths, to be precise.
- Saul is not my master. He’s just a man.
- This wilderness I’ve been in for so long is not my home. That must be somewhere else.
- God called me to be king. I need to start acting like one.
- Maybe this is my training ground, and God’s trying to chisel off the rough edges of my life that don’t look kinglike.
- Maybe when I start looking and acting like a king, I’ll be a king.
- The Lord hasn’t forgotten me. He’s just preparing me.
- I wasn’t called to this place. I was called through this place.
David returned to being the confident man “after God’s own heart.” When he would eventually become king, he had a lock on truth. God didn’t desert David in the wilderness; he developed him in the wilderness.
David learned he could trust God even “in the valley of the shadow of death.” David would face this valley more than once. Doubt and fear have a way of cropping up throughout our lives.
- One time, the Amalekites ransacked David’s camp, stealing away the women and children. David’s own men turned on him and wanted to kill him. (Harsh!) David found strength in his God.
- David later fought the surrounding nations. He relied on God and His direction.
- Untimely deaths continually plagued David and his household. This was what Nathan the prophet said would be the result of his sin with Bathsheba. Over and over again, David reached for and worshiped the God who sustained him by His grace and mercy.
- When his own son, Absalom, turned against him and tried to overthrow his authority, David knew that his anointing came from God alone. David’s life-giving relationship with God anchored him for the rest of his life. That’s where God is taking you today.
Finding the Truth in Our Valley
God wants to develop you, just as he did David. You will experience different kinds of valleys from David’s and from mine. By entering your valleys with the same attitude David learned to cling to, with the same mindset David learned to adopt, you can change the outcome of every valley. Instead of dread, you can expect to get fed. Instead of fearing that God is going to burn you, you can trust that he is going to teach you. God loves you. He has a purpose for you. You can trust him, no matter what.
Here’s an idea. Instead of fearing what God might do in our lives and instead of dreading the tools He might use, what if we started chasing the chisel? He wants to smooth the rough edges of our hearts, so what if we let Him? What if we pursued His refining power?
When we recognize the refining of the Lord, we don’t just have to endure it; we can celebrate it. God is shaping us in His image. It’s called “dying to yourself.” It means you give up, at least temporarily, all your own plans, all your own thoughts, and you just lean back and say, “Here I am. Teach me.”
Jesus’s half-brother James wrote, “Count it all joy when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2)
The valleys are made for us. They’re not working against us. We don’t have to be afraid of valleys. That’s where God crafts us, chisels off the rough edges, teaches us new thought patterns, and expands the limits of our endurance. It’s where we learn we can go the distance, run the marathon, climb the mountain, and achieve everything God planned for us from the moment of our birth.
On your hero’s journey, you get to be you. You don’t have to “fake it till you make it.” You get to have valleys, and God will walk through them with you. You don’t have to be a superhero; you get to be the real you.
In a world of gray, it is difficult to see the black and white at times. Thankfully though, the Bible will always guide us and give us that real, raw truth we need. Lock on to the purpose that God has for you and the love He surrounds you with. Instead of dread in the valley, expect to get fed.
To learn more about being the real you and how to be fed in—and delivered from—the valley, check out my bestselling book, Overliked: Finding Direction, Courage, and Meaningful Relationships in a Society Crippled by Social Media. I invite you to dive deeper with me into how you can get to the authentic life God has created for you to live.
Until next time, anchor yourself in God’s Word and the peace only He can give.
~ Pastor Rob
Aka, P-Ro