How to turn your valley experiences into brand new mountaintop visions?

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass”. Psalms 37:3-5

Everyone will face valley experiences and it may or may not last long.

This is one of my favorite chapter in the Bible. David says in verse 25 “I was young and now I am old.” There is a lot of wisdom in this psalm to apply in our spiritual lives. He reflects his valley and bitter experiences of life. There were quite a lot of them in David’s life.  He learned very good lessons out of his valley experience and he is sharing this wisdom with us in this Psalm. You see, nobody like valley experiences. But you can’t escape from valley experiences and few of them could be really darkest valleys.
Now, David’s life experience teaches us one lesson more clearly if nothing else and that is this -there is no exception for God’s children because they will also go through the same valley experiences like other people.
But David’s life experience and his writings and many other Bible accounts also shows another valuable lesson – valley and bitter experiences may not last long for a child of God because God is at work when his children go through the valley and bitter experiences. In David’s and Joseph’s life, valley was there for a pretty long time. Some other God’s children’s life that I am aware of  valley and bad experiences were there for an extended period of time.
He says, “Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong. For like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.” Didn’t David face with evil and envious people in his life? Oh sure, he faced many of them. However, the most important among them was King Saul and his armies.

Valley experiences offer critical choices.

For a person who does not sincerely seek God in the valley experience, it is a dangerous place to be in. Even many good people, who are faced with bitter valley experiences got stuck there in the valley never to come out. Unfortunately, they make a permanent dwelling place right there in the valley. Instead of running toward God, they run away from God. Many lost visions, discouraged and depressed because they lost sight right in their valleys. They think their life is gone because someone betrayed them, cheated them or make them fall down. I can talk about it because I have been there, done it and bought my t-shirt.  On the other side, the Christians who are supposed to be the hands and feets of the Christ seems lacking the grace of the Lord to come along and help the one who is bleeding through the valley experiences. Remember the good Samaritan story Jesus said in Luke 10:25-37. Immature and Pharisee minded Christians can make the whole situation worse to make the afflicted person ran away from Church and God. The time of affliction or the severe valley time is when we should run toward God and church and church should be ready for the task of good Samaritan work. This is the high calling of God on the New Testament church.
Child of God, be assured of this fact, you may be facing evil and envious people in your life. You may be going through the most stressful valley experience currently in your life. Your valley and bitter experience may have been caused by other people or self-inflicted. David had both in his life. It doesn’t matter other people caused or self-caused, your response in your valley experience makes all the difference for you. Why? Remember God is in control and He is there to help you to get out of valley. However, you can sit in agony and pity over the past and continue brooding over the wounds and get depressed and stay away from God and Church, fearing the judgment of people. Or you can go to church more, read Bible and pray more and get closer to God and trust His character and and move with Him. You determine what you would do in your valley.

Valley experiences can prepare you for a brand new mountaintop vision and assignment.

I will bring to your attention seven points from the above passage so that you can face your valley experiences and come out of it victoriously with a brand vision and assignment for the Lord. I will touch base with only one point in this article.

1. Trust in the Lord.

You see, you are called by God and you are His child if you already accepted Christ as your savior. Remember the song ‘blessed assurance Jesus is mine’! In your valley experience trust in the character of God. Did God leave you anytime in the past? No. He never did. Did you leave Him in the past? Probably yes. Remind this truth -God’s character is not like people’s character. People say something and change their words and attitudes. But not God. You can fully trust the character of God. He will be right there in the midst of your problems and mess and will help you through it. God’s character is your fortress and strength. No matter what, the Lord assured you in Hebrews 13:5, “For He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.” The CJB (Complete Jewish Bible) says, “I will never fail you or abandon you. There, you can with confidence, “Adonai is my helper; I will not be afraid —what can a human being do to me?”.
Isaiah 41:9-10, “I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
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.
Listen! who called you? The Lord says He called you. He is your owner. He owns you. Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that God owns you. “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” Who chose you? The Lord says He chose you. Romans 8:28-29 says God predestined you, chose you and called you and he is committed to justify you and glorify you. God promised He will complete the work he started in you. He will carry on His work in you until the day of Jesus. (Philippians 1:6). Then He says, do not fear. Why? “For I am with you”. Did you read the beautiful and loving verse at the end of passage? “I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” No matter what you are going through- Mark it- The Lord will uphold you with His righteous right hand.
Jesus said,” And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20). Did you notice the small word “surely”? So the first thing you will need to remember when you go through the valley and bitter experience is this- Trust the character of God. In your valley time, you are already bruised and broken. Do you know what Bible says about the character of God in Isaiah 42:3? It says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”

Valley experiences are preparation time for a new vision from God.

Remember valley time is the preparation time. There you will learn very valuable lessons you won’t learn otherwise. God allows you to go through such valley experiences so that when you come out of it you will be stronger, efficient and the Lord will have a brand new vision for His future ministry and work. Psalm 119:71 says, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” In other words, when you come out of your valley experience, you would say it was good for me to be in the valley because I learned a lot about His words and decrees. You would say, It was not my hand and it was His hand who carried me through. Valley coaches us and prepares us for the next big task God has in store for you. Reflect, it was from the valley experiences that David was able to write the Psalms that touch and heals the hearts of multitudes of people today. It was the valley experiences of Moses that groomed him into a meek leader and visionary for the nation Israel. It was valley experiences of Joseph that helped him see God’s hand all over his life (Genesis 50:20). He didn’t know his life purpose when he was in the valley. But when he came out of it He understood God’s purpose for his life. He says to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Bible asks this question who or what shall separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:24(b). You see, nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. You love and my love would change over the time. But the passage affirms nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Jesus love is that strong. Then Romans 8:39 says who or what will separate us from the love of God? You see, the Father and Son are fully committed to their unconditional love toward you. The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit also loves you. How do I know? He is my comforter, advocate, counselor. He is my guide and He never leaves me- the permanent indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. He is the caretaker and custodian who will sanctify me on an ongoing basis until I reach heaven. The triune God loves you. You can fully trust in the His character with no doubt anymore.
Do you know it was the valley experience of Peter that made him stronger and courageous later to stand in front of a multitude of people to preach courageously and strengthen his brothers (Acts 2)? In fact, Jesus foretold him about Peter’s valley experience and what would be the result of it in Luke 22:31-33.
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Though Peter said he would go with Jesus to prison and to death, he couldn’t even stand in front of servant girls and other men when they testified about him as one of Christ’s disciples. Bible says in Matthew 26:74, “Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”Oh, this was a definitely a very tragic and heart-breaking valley in Peter’s life.
What is the character of Jesus who called and chose Peter? There was a purpose for Peter’s severe valley experiences. What was that? Jesus said, “when you turned back, strengthen your brothers”. Peter’s valley experience was really painful and hurtful to him. He felt severely bad about it. He couldn’t face Jesus any more humanly speaking. He went outside and wept bitterly. In his hopeless condition, he wanted to go back to his old fishing career. But Jesus love won’t let him go back to his old trade. Jesus pursued him to the beach where he was catching fish and reminded and restored him to a new assignment and empowered him to strengthen his brothers. This was Peter’s calling – strengthening his own brothers and feeding Christ’s sheeps . He ministered mainly to Jewish believers while Paul reached out to the Gentiles with his unique calling for that mission.
Don’t say loving Lord doesn’t have nothing in store in your valley and bitter experiences. Your valley experiences are the precious time and season God would use for His purpose in the near future if you would allow Him and trust His good heart. You will be uniquely coined and stamped for new vision and assignment.
Trust in the character of the Lord when you go through valley experiences. Bible says in Psalms 23 says, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Are you walking through the darkest valley? Trust the character of God. Focus your attention on Him. Fix your eyes on Christ. People may leave you, say bad things about you. Don’t trust in the character of people. But trust fully the character of the Lord. He is with you, he comforts you. He will prepare a table right before your enemies who talked and rumored against you, He will anoint you with oil again. Your cup will overflow again and finally, you will dwell in His house forever and ever. Amen.

My friend, if you are facing a deep valley experience, understand you can turn your valley in to a mountaintop experience with the help of the living God. If you never connected to God who loves you and deeply committed for your good and safe future, you must know God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ,  for the forgivness of your sins so that you can become a child of God and live with Him eternally in heaven. Christ died for you, he was buried and resurrected by the power of God to pay for you sins.

In a simple prayer, you can become a child of God now. Turn to God now. He will deliver and give you a brand new vision and purpose for your life. Pray after me like this.

God, I know I cannot handle the issue I am  facing now. I need your help and I trust in your character and promise. I want to get connected to you. I believe Christ died for my sins, buried and risen from the death for me. Please come to my life and save me. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray.

If you prayed this prayer, I have the privilege to welcome you first to God’s family. I am excited to hear from you. Please go to contact/prayer tab and send me a note. Thankyou for doing this.

 

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