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In The Valley

by Jerry Ousley  
8/19/2016 / Christian Living

In the early 1990's I received a devastating blow. I'm sure that there are several of you who can completely identify with this problem. My job of five years was coming to an end. We had been given notice that the printing plant was going to be shut down. It was something no one could have predicted or could have imagined how it felt. No one can unless they have gone through the loss of their income.

I was in a better position than most because I was given the choice of relocating either in Dayton, Ohio or Johnston City, Tennessee. It was exciting to think about oving to another state and a part of me really wanted to do that. However we were pastors of the church in Crothersville, Indiana. A person has a sense of a higher call. I had preached that God would take care of His people if they would only trust in Him and so now I had to literally put those words to the test as an example to our congregation. So Deb and I made the decision that we were going to throw ourselves on the mercy of God and refuse the relocation proposals.

It wasn't easy going to work knowing that each day brought me closer to the end. I couldn't just go find another job right away because in order to collect the offered severance pay we had to work up until the official closing date. It seemed like we were stuck between heaven and earth. We were preparing to enter the valley.

In Joshua 7 and 8 we read the account of the Battle of Ai. The history of this battle in a nutshell was that God had just led the people of Israel in a great victory over Jericho. The witness to the people of that victory left them feeling invincible. They were now facing another battle with Ai. It as a smaller city and so without consulting God the elders of Israel proposed to only send around 3000 men. They felt that it would be an easy victory. But it wasn't. Israel was sorely defeated and lost thirty-six men in the battle. Now the people wondered what was going on.

To make a long story short it turned out that a man named Achan had not followed God's instructions at Jericho. They were not to take anything at all as spoils of the battle but were to destroy everything. However Achan saw a change of clothing that really took his eye, so along with a bar of silver he returned after the battle to his tent where he buried these items under it. I guess he thought that later on, after some time had passed, he could wear his new outfit and begin to spend his silver and no one would know what he had done. But God knew.

Because of Achan's sin God had allowed Ai to miserably defeat Israel. That sin was found out and Achan paid for it with his life. But the damage had been done. Joshua and the people had to humble themselves before God. The Lord gave Joshua a plan to recover but it first required him to enter a valley.

In our Christian experience we have ups and downs. Our ups are usually referred to as "mountain-tops" while our downs are called "valleys." We all have them. There are times when it seems everything is just going like clockwork, we're hitting on all cylinders and life is humming along. During those times we may feel like we've got it together with God and nothing can rob us of it. But in order to continue arriving at "Mountain-Top" experiences we are required to enter the valleys in-between. The situation I described above about losing my job was one of those valleys. I know you have experienced your own valleys and you may be in one right now. God's plan, more often than not, will include valleys. It's because He knows we can't learn on the top of mountains. The view may be great. Being on top of life always feels better. But if we really want to learn about God, grow in our experience with Him, and become strong Christians we've got to go through valleys. We learn in the valleys. Sometimes we learn not to do things that we have done in the past. Sometimes we learn how to deal with pain, grief, suffering and hardship in the valley. How can we ever tell someone else how to get victory in their lives unless we know firsthand? There are lessons that no classroom can ever teach. These lessons only come through valley-experiences. Over the next few days we're going to see how Joshua was able to turn his valley into a victory. We don't want to stay in valleys but while we're there let's learn what God wants us to know.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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