Visual aid - [a large 3” rope with multiple knots ]
Intro.
This sermon rises from the battles and joys, my wife and I have recently experienced and are still walking out. So I preach more to myself than anything. Today, we will look at how God is in control of all the turns and twists in the knots of life. We look at how he uses them for our good and his glory. We will look at what he requires of us. We will look at four passages of Scripture to get a grasp on what God is doing when life gets tied in knots.
Outline - Five points on faith: 1.) The peaks and valleys of faith, 2.) The Place of faith, 3.) A Person of faith, 4.) A Picture of faith, 5.) The Promise of faith
Let's pray! (prayer)
I have learned - Life can be like a battle.
The battles we face are often intense times of weakness, distress, and confusion; The low points of our life. Yet God is with us during difficulties. In fact, these valleys are often as much the plan of God as our mountaintop experiences. We all need to hear the truth; Christ is God of more than just the mountains.
1.) The peaks and valleys of faith
GOD of more than just the mountains
1 kings 20 speaks plainly to this truth. Israel had recently defeated the Syrians in a mountain battle. In 1 Kings 20:22-23 we read:
22 Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you." 23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.-
28 And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because the Syrians have said, "The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys," therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'"
APP: No matter what the enemy tries to tell you, Christ is God of the mountains and God of the valleys. He has not stopped being God because you happen to be in a valley. In and through all things He is our God, in the valley and on the mountain. In your life, is God, just the God of the mountain or is he also the God of your valleys? Faith is easy on the mountain but we often need to be reminded God is in control in the valleys as well.
A. God has different purposes for each place.
Mountains and valleys in contrast
a.) When we are on the "mountaintops", we can see our future clearly. We have perspective and confidence.
ILL: my experience of being on the Macedonian Mountain top: the beauty of the view and how far you could see. On top of the mountain was a giant steal cross, from the mountain top experience of redemption we see life with greater clarity.
b.) When we are in one of life's valleys, our vision is limited and our future seems hidden. Yet valleys are also the most fertile places on earth. Valleys produce fruitfulness. The mountain is not the place you plant crops. You don't farm on a mountain top, you farm in the valley.
ILL: The Macedonian Mountain overlooked the city of Skopje. The mountain was great but life was in the valley. You could see the city far below. Cars like ants moved through vein like roads making the city sparkle and teem with the signs of life.
APP: Whether we are experiencing the height of success, blessing and power or are in a valley of weakness and despair, the Lord is our God continually, in the valleys and the mountains.
2.) The Place of faith
In psalms 84, the psalmist writes on the journey of every human heart.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6 As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; -Psalm 84:5-6
A few observations
• God has placed in our hearts "highways to Zion," - meaning God places in man's heart by His Holy Spirit, a desire to Worship The Holy One. Placed within every believer is an eternal longing in our hearts for God. It is a holy longing - a desire never satisfied on this side of heaven. Hope burning bright with hunger and longing for the object our hope is turned towards - the Living God. This heart highway is an O.T. picture of a regenerated heart of faith.
• Hearts will go through the valley of Baca. Baca means "weeping." Each of us has times of weeping when our hearts and hopes seem crushed. But we pass through valleys; we do not live in them.
• God redeems our valleys and makes them springs. We All will "Pass through the valley of Baca..." Once we are on the other side of weeping, God makes our valley experience into "a spring." The very things that overwhelmed us will, in time, refresh us with new life. Remember, God never waists our pain.
APP: Do not forget, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Even the hairs on your head are numbered. He cares. God never waits our pain. It is His love for us that redeems our hardships and not only brings good out of what was meant for evil, but also trains us to deliver others.
3.) The Person of faith
Jesus is our object of faith:
Turn to Hebrews 5:7-9, it reads:
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, - Hebrews 5:7-9
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that even Jesus had to go through valleys. He lived a sin-less life but it was not without suffering. Part of His training involved suffering. Yet His suffering was the Father's means of acquainting Him with the actual feelings of mankind's need and pain. Because He suffered what we suffer, He is able to serve as a faithful high priest.
APP: Hard times are hard! Jesus understands our suffering - he has walked the same valleys. We have a Savior who understands. This makes trusting faith much easier for we trust a Savior who can say to us the honest word, “I understand, I have been there too.” We place our faith in someone who has been there and understands the process.
If we trust Him and yield to God's plan for Christ to be formed in us, (Rom 8:29) God will take our sorrows and enlarge our hearts to contain the glory of heaven. Once we have been acquainted with grief, and taught by that grief, we will then walk in Jesus-like compassion to help others in their grief. We only need to learn to yield to grace and trust God is making us more like Jesus.
4.) A Picture of faith
A picture of yielding: The life of Joseph
Joseph's life is a pattern for many who have had a genuine call from God. When Joseph was young, he was given a dream of God's plan for him. (mountain) Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, thrown in a pit (valley) sold into slavery then rose to prominence from slavery in Potiphar's house. (Mountain) He was unjustly accused by that hussy, known as Potiphar's wife. He was imprisoned and forgotten by all except God. (valley)
God patiently watched and measured Joseph's responses to difficulty. Joseph knew God was in charge of the valleys as well as the mountains. Rich or poor, blessed or smitten, Joseph served God.
The Lord suddenly connected all the loose ends of Joseph's life. Everything that Joseph went through would have seemed cruel and unfair except that the Lord was shaping a man for His purpose.
APP: Our walk with God may also have begun with Big dreams and clear visions where God wants to take us. Yet we fail to be able to see how His promises will come to pass in our lives. God uses everything we go through for future purposes that He alone sees. We do not see His ultimate plan while we are in the valley. We must remember the vision, keeping faith in what God has promised.
5.) The Promise of faith
Joseph's retrospect look - a promise of hope in every valley.
Scripture tells us that during the birth of his children, Joseph took a moment to look back at his journey. The names that came from his retrospective are telling of what God did for Joseph.
"Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, 'For,' he said, 'God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household'" (Genesis 41:51). God caused Joseph to forget the difficulty and pain of his life.
APP: There is something wonderful about the Lord's capacity to cause all things to work for good. With Jesus in our lives, a time ultimately comes when God causes us to forget all the troubles of the past.
"He named the second Ephraim, 'For,' he said, 'God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction'" (Genesis 41:52). God made him fruitful in the very things that afflicted him.
APP: In the land of your affliction, in your battle, is the place where God will make you fruitful.
Consider your area of greatest affliction.
• In that area God will make you fruitful in such a way that your heart will be fully satisfied and God's heart fully glorified.
• God has not promised to keep us from valleys and sufferings, but He has promised to make us fruitful in them.
Without a doubt we each will pass through valleys, our hearts are made for them. Remember, As we remain faithful to Him in trials, the character and nature of Jesus will be formed in us. Christ will be revealed to those around us. This is his plan God intends to make your life the Spring others gain strength from as they traverse their own valleys.
