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Trivial Pursuit
Psalm 23:4
Tonight our game is Trivial Pursuit, the great game of questions and
answers. But if you have ever played the game then you know that there
are always more questions than answers. And I believe that could be said
about the Christian Life as well.
Yesterday Rollen and I had the opportunity to visit with Adam Harbin. We
talked, looked at pictures of their little girl, and the question came
to my mind why did this happen? I don’t know the answer to that
question, but I do know what it is like to be in the valley. You see it
is in the valley that we face most of the questions. It is in the valley
that life with God usually gets the most trivial, so tonight I want us
to look at the question, “How do I handle the dark valleys of life?”
As I thought about The Harbins over the past few weeks and their
struggle with their little girl, and then when I received the phone call
that they had taken her off of the ventilator I though about the valley
that they must be in. I have come up with five facts about valleys that
we need to remember whenever you go through a tough time:
1. Valleys Are Inevitable
They are going to happen so you might as well get ready for one. You
have just come out of a valley, you’re in one right now, or you're
probably headed toward one. Valleys happen throughout life -- one right
after another. After every mountain top there is a valley. Jesus was
very realistic about it. In John 16, He says "In the world you will have
trouble.” It's not a matter of if, it's when. It's going to happen.
You're going to have difficulty, disappointment, discouragement in life.
There will be times of suffering, sorrow, sickness. They are going to
happen. They are a normal part of life. Don't be surprised by it.
2. Valleys Are Unpredictable
You can't plan them, time them, and schedule them. Valleys are always
unexpected. They usually come at the worst time -- when you don't have
time, when you're unprepared. They just happen. And usually when you
least need them and it's most inconvenient. It would be very great if we
could schedule our down times in life. You can't plan life like that.
Valleys come suddenly. Have you noticed how easily a good day can become
a bad day? A phone call, a letter, a routine doctor's check-up, a freak
accident. Have you ever had a flat tire at a good time? Valleys just
happen.
Jeremiah 4:20 "Disaster follows disaster... In an instant my tents are
destroyed, my shelter falls in a moment."
3. Valleys Are Impartial
No one gets to skate through life problem-free. Everybody has problems
-- good people and bad people. Problems, trials, difficulties,
disturbances, downtimes, depression doesn't mean you're a bad person. It
means you're a person. It doesn't mean you're an evil human being; it
means you're a human being. The Bible is very clear that good things
happen to bad people and sometimes bad things happen to good people.
Valleys are impartial. They don't care how good or bad you are.
Matthew 5:45 Jesus said, "It rains on the just and the unjust too.”
When we go through a difficult time -- a valley in life -- the first
reaction is always "Why me?” Yet really you should ask "Why not me?” Do
you think you should be exempt from all the problems everybody else has
to go through? Do you think you should be the only one that never has a
tragedy, a loss, looses a loved one? Instead of saying "Why me?" just
realize it's going to happen because you're a human being. Remember this
is not heaven. Things are not perfect here and there are problems and
difficulties. They are going to happen in life -- to good people,
Christians. Disasters and tragedies happen to all of us.
4. Valleys Are Temporary
They have an end to them. They don't last. They are not a permanent
location. David says, "Even though I walk through the valley...” The
valley is not something you stay in your entire life. It's something you
go through. When you're in a valley, you often think it's a dead end,
but it's not. It's like a tunnel -- there is a beginning and end. You go
through the tunnel and eventually you're out of it and back out in the
light again. They don't come into your life to stay. They come to pass.
1 Peter 1:6 "There is a wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is
rough for a while down here.”
Peter admits that sometimes you're going to go through rough times. Life
is tough. But it's only for a while. There is wonderful joy ahead. He's
talking about Heaven. There are no problems in heaven, no valleys, and
no dark days. While you may be harassed down here, in heaven you'll have
no problems. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, that's where you're
going.
Peter says don't get discouraged. Even if you live 80 or 90 years and
have a problem your entire life, that is so insignificant compared to
the thousands and millions of years in eternity problem free. Even if
it's your whole life, it's just temporary compared in light of eternity.
"Our troubles are short lived and there is an eternal glory which
outweighs them all.” They won't last; they will be short. But there is
an eternal glory. This is important. Pain can be productive. There will
be a benefit for our problems if we respond in the right way. While we
have the temporary hassles, there is long term, eternal benefit when you
go through a valley and respond to it correctly.
5. Valleys Are Purposeful
God has a reason for taking you through the valleys. Whether its doubt,
depression, despair, discouragement, defeat -- He's got a reason behind
it.
1 Peter 1:6-7 "At the present you may be temporarily harassed by all
kinds of trials.” He says you are temporarily harassed with problems
here. And there may be all kinds of trials. There are financial valleys,
relational valleys, emotional valleys, all kinds of different trials.
"...This is no accident -- it happens to prove your faith...”
The valleys are not just a freak of nature. God wants to build your
faith in the valleys of life. We love to enjoy the mountain tops, but
you don't build faith on the mountain tops. You build faith in the
valleys of life. When everything is going fine and great you don't
really need God. But when you come face to face with a dark valley, you
get on your knees. Faith is strengthened in the valleys. When you don't
feel like serving and trusting God, praising God... that's where your
faith is tested. Not in the good times of life, but in the valleys.
Every problem has a purpose. Even the little tiny ones, the
inconsequential ones, the things that seem like mere irritations. They
have a purpose. God can teach you character. He wants to change you,
mature you.
God wants to build your character. He is far more interested in your
character than He is in your comfort or your convenience. God's goal in
life is not to just make life comfortable for you. He wants to build
character. He's more interested in your holiness than He is in your
happiness. Holiness lasts, happiness doesn't. Happiness comes from
holiness anyway.
He wants to make you like Jesus Christ. He wants you to develop the
character of Christ. If God is going to make you like Christ, He is
going to take you through all of the circumstances of life He took
Christ through.
Was Jesus exempted from suffering? Absolutely not.
Did Jesus go through times of loneliness? Yes. Will you? Yes.
Was Jesus ever tempted to be discouraged? Yes. Will you? Yes.
Was Jesus ever misunderstood, maligned, and criticized unjustly? Yes.
Will you? Absolutely.
What makes you think you're any different? You're going to go through
valleys. God wants to build character in your life. It's not by
accident. God does not cause accidents and tragedies. God is a good God
and He cannot cause evil. He cannot do evil. But God can use accidents
and tragedies for good. He can use even the evil done to us by others,
turn it around, and bring good out of it by building character in us. He
definitely uses the tragedies and valleys of life in our lives.
So that is five things to remember about valleys let’s close tonight by
looking at what we should do when we go through Dark Valleys.
In Psalm 23:4 David said, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
Refuse To be Discouraged
"I will fear no evil.” I fear nothing. That's what David says as a
Christian, who puts his faith in God. "Even though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death". It says "I walk" -- not "I run through
it" or "I panic and run the other way.” To walk means calmly,
deliberately make steps through the valley. David says "I'm not going to
be afraid. I will calmly walk through the valley."
Refuse to be discouraged. You can't go around the valley. You can't go
under the valley. You can't go over the valley. You can only go through
the valley. Here he says "I will not fear evil.” Will implies a choice.
It implies a decision. I will not be afraid.
If you are discouraged tonight, it's because you're choosing to be
discouraged. I don't have to know your problems. You're choosing to be
discouraged. Discouragement is always a choice. Always. You don't have
to choose to be discouraged, but you're choosing to think discouraging
thoughts. You're choosing to look at all the negatives. You're choosing
not to look at Christ and all the positive things. You're looking at all
of the negatives. That's a choice. You can choose to change, too.
That's what God wants you to do -- choose. It's a deliberate act. You
say Jeremy, how do I choose to not be discouraged? By focusing on God's
power rather than on your problem. That's how you do it.
You can take two people and put them in the identical situation -- a
chaos, tragedy, crisis -- one of them will be blown away by it, and the
other is actually strengthened by it. One of them falls apart; one of
them is stands tall through it. The difference is what you're focusing
on. You need to focus, not on your circumstance, but on Christ. Not on
the situation, but on the Savior. Not on your problem, but on God's
power.
Colossians 1:11 "God will strengthen you with his own great power so
that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient."
Human energy runs out. After a certain length of time, you don't have
any energy left. No stamina. In the valleys of life, you need a power
source bigger than yourself. If you think you're going to make it
through all the valleys of life on your own power -- forget it. You're
not going to you don't have enough power to handle all the things that
are going to hit you in life. You need a power source beyond yourself to
key into.
2. Remember that God is With You.
David said, "For You will be with me. You're with me every moment.” God
not only promises us His power in the valley, He promises His presence.
You will never go through a valley in life by yourself. You will never
go through a dark day alone. God has said, "I will be with you."
Isaiah 43:2 "When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will
be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not
drown! When you walk through the fires of oppression, you will not be
burned up -- the flames will not consume you.”
You're not going to drown, burn up, die -- God says I am with you. He
will be with you every step in the valley. God says there is nothing to
fear when Jesus is near. God does not set up in heaven, looking down on
you saying, "I sure hope they make it!” He's there with you in the
valley, walking with you, hand in hand. God says, I will lead you
through this.
At verse 4 of Psalm 23, there is a strategic change in the language. In
the first part of the psalm all of the pronouns are in the 3rd person --
he talks about God: "He leads me beside still waters, He guides me into
green pastures, and He restores my soul.” David is talking about God.
But when he gets in the valley, it changes to second person pronouns. He
starts talking not about God but to God. "You are with me. Your rod and
your staff comfort me.” It's the valleys of life that bring us face to
face with God. All of a sudden, the ultimate becomes the intimate. When
I'm going through the valley I don't want to talk about God, I want to
talk to God. Religion becomes a relationship.
Any mature believer will tell you that the times they have been closest
to God were in those face to face encounters that happen only in the
valley. When you're in the valley, you’re spent, depleted, perplexed, in
despair, and you're talking directly to God, He becomes real and God
says, "I'm with you. You're not in this by yourself.” We enjoy the
mountaintops but we come face to face with God in the valleys of life.
He'll never be closer than when you are in the valley.
3. Rely On God’s Protection and Guidance
David reminds himself that God's rod and staff comforts him. The rod and
staff were the two basic tools that a shepherd used to protect and guide
the sheep.
A rod was basically about two foot long; at the end of it was a heavy
knot. Shepherds were very skilled at hurling the rod, like a missile, at
anything that would attack the sheep. God is saying, "When you go
through the valley, I'm defending you. I'm protecting you.” The rod of
God will protect you.
When you're going through the valley, the dark valley of life, God is
not setting in heaven unconcerned and apathetic. The Good Shepherd
fights for you. While you're fighting for your life in that depression,
God is fighting with you. He is your defender and protector. That’s what
the rod represents.
"Your staff comforts me.” A staff was a long stick with a crock at the
end of it. The shepherd uses a staff to guide and comfort. He will use
the staff to draw the sheep in close to him. He will use the staff to
lift them up when they're down. He brings them in close with their
staff. He also uses the staff to guide them. When you go through the
valley, you're not going through it alone. God's going with you and He's
using His rod and staff to protect and guide.
Do you know what the scariest part of the valley is? It is the shadows.
In the darkness, you just see the shadows on the wall of the valley as
you're going through that canyon. And you're thinking "How am I going to
make it?” David says, "When I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death” -- he didn't walk through the valley of death, but the valley of
the shadow of death. You will experience those shadow moments. When
those times come, you need to remember three important things about
shadows:
Shadows are always bigger than the reality. Fear is always greater than
the actual problem. It's the fear that is enormous.
Shadows cannot hurt you. Ever been run over by a shadow? There is a
difference between the shadow of a truck and the truck itself. Shadows
are image without substance. They cannot hurt you. They can scare you,
but they cannot hurt you. They are just shadows.
There is no shadow without a light somewhere. When you're going through
a dark valley, you think the sun has stopped shining. God is dead. I'm
all alone. You can't see at all and you think you're in total darkness.
But any time there is a shadow it means there is a light somewhere. When
you start to get afraid of the shadow in the dark valleys of life turn
your back on the shadow and look directly at the light and the shadow
falls behind you. When you're afraid, don't look at the shadow, look at
the light.
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.” When you look at Him, you
cannot be afraid of all the other shadows around you.
Psalm 34:19 "The good man does not escape all troubles -- he has them
too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one.”
It's obvious that Christians go through valleys just like everybody
does. Christians have disappointments. Christians get sick. Christians
experience tragedies. Christians loose loved ones. Christians have
financial problems. God's people have family problems. Believers go
through valleys just like everybody does. But there is a difference and
it's a big difference.
The difference is that while believers and non-believers go through the
same valleys of life, the difference for the Christian is not the
absence of the shadow but the presence of the Shepherd. God is with you.
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