Peaks & Valleys / Unstoppable God Series (part 2) // Pastor Drew

Amen. Good morning. How we doing,

collective?

Let's go, guys. What an incredible uh

week and day we've had already. Uh I

want to highlight it is not Easter

Sunday, but I'm still celebrating the

resurrection. How about

y'all? I am. I'm grateful. We're going

to be uh every everything we do is in

response to the things that Jesus has

done for us. And that's why if this is

your first time here and you're like,

"These people are a little bit crazy. I

don't know why they're worshiping their

hands. They're they're raising their

hands. I don't know why I see people

down on their knees." Like these people,

they must like actually really believe

this stuff. Yes. And amen. Amen. Right.

And uh I I do not ever I do not ever

want to live as

if I come across as complacent or

unchanged.

by the spirit of God and by the life and

story of Jesus.

So as we talk about this this

unstoppable series, I want to before we

jump in, I want to highlight something

because last week when we had on Easter

Sunday, we did a survey and we had on

that survey uh a number of people

marked, I am making a decision right

now to submit my life to Jesus

Christ for the first time or the first

time in a a long time and we have 33

people that marks that. Come on. Can we

give some praise to God for what he's

doing? That is

insane. That is insane. I was

celebrating with some pastors this week

about what God was doing. And it's just

incredible what he's doing in this

house. It's amazing how he is moving in

a people that's just coming saying, "I

don't know what's going to happen, but I

know God's going to show up." And so I

want to encourage you guys today, grab

out, if you don't have it, grab out a

notebook and a Bible, open up your notes

tab in your in your phone. Today's

message is going to be especially

notetaking worthy. So I want to

encourage you guys to jump into that. Uh

if you don't have a physical Bible with

you, it's okay. God forgives you. I

don't know if I will, but God does. Just

kidding. Uh but I seriously, you can

mark it up on your own. It's great to be

able to have notes in the side for

yourself. I encourage you guys to do

that and your Bible doesn't get

notifications that pop up. So, it makes

it a lot less distracting. Uh, but I

want to highlight, we all know, we all

know the story about the person

that has come, they're like life is

together. They've got everything. Things

are going great. They're taking their

relationship with the Lord seriously.

They're doing well in in work. Their

friendships are

thriving. They've knocked off old habits

and life has changed. And

then there starts to be a slide. There

starts to be a

drift, right? We've seen that. And at at

at the beginning, it's hard to really

put a I just saying, I don't know, the

pulse is different. Things have just

changed. It doesn't seem it doesn't seem

quite as invested.

and pretty soon start to see around less

often. Pretty soon you don't see them at

church at all. After a little while

things have started to fall. Some old

habits have picked up. Some old friends

have started coming around

again and then then then old old things

start coming up again. Then we get

problems we get and starting to drift

and purpose is gone and hope is gone and

and then there's It's It's like where

did they go? What happened? And maybe

that's been some of your

stories. I don't really I don't know. I

don't really know what happened. Like

Jesus and I were

tight. And then and then things just

started to

change. I tell you, there's there's a

few main reasons I've seen for this.

Number one, and the biggest reason I've

seen is friendships.

The vast majority of stories that I've

heard of people like this, the story

goes, "And then I started hanging out

with this one

crowd." The second reason I've seen

behind

this

is

habits. I haven't changed my

habits. I haven't that I I was going to

church and that was about it. And then

the other thing is that nothing nothing

else really changed in my own walk with

the Lord. I kind of piggybacked on the

walk with the Lord that everybody else

around me at church had and I didn't

really have my own. But the third is the

one that I want to talk about today. The

third this is this is one that I see

happen and it's it's usually the one

that happens to someone who's been

consistent for a while. You've started

to find your groove.

You've started to build those habits.

You've got the right friends and then it

fades

away usually because of what we're

talking about

today. Peaks and

valleys. That's what we're talking about

today. We're talking about the the highs

and the lows of life. And this comes

from Romans 8:38 through39. This is our

Romans 8:38–39

core passage for this series. And so

this is where we're going to start. You

guys can uh if you guys got your Bible,

you can kind of put a finger in ma

Matthew 26 where we're going to be. But

right now, Romans 8:38 through39. Can we

Romans 8:38–39

get this up on the screen? He says, "For

I am persuaded that neither death nor

life, nor angels, nor demons, nor things

present, nor things to come, nor powers,

nor heights, nor depth, nor any other

created thing will be able to separate

us from the love that is in of the love

of God that is in Christ Jesus our

Lord."

And these are things that he's

specifically mentioning that are like

intimidating things that we go, "Yeah,

but like God loves me, but do you know

what I did?" And now I suddenly I don't

feel so loved anymore,

right? You like I know he forgives,

but I don't know if he forgives this

many times.

I wouldn't forgive me at this point. So

I don't see why God would forgive

me. And we get these and and this is

where right at verse 39 where it says

nor height nor depth. And this really

what it means a lot of different things.

It's talking about the the things that

are too high, the high places and the

depth, the low low places. And it

usually represents you'll see in the

book of Psalms talking about like I am

I'm in the highest. I'm in the best

greatest place. That's where you carry

me. You're on the wings of eagles,

right? It's this idea of I go up to

these high incredible places. It's these

peaks, these mountaintop moments in life

that we have where it's just like when

it rains, it pours and it's just pouring

goodness, right? It's like it's almost

like everything is working out and I got

the job that I wanted and this new boss,

it's just like it's great. We get each

other. I got this friend. I got this

relationship. Finally, I'm in this like

I'm dating this person and they like,

"Oh, man. We just we love each other."

And things are just working

out, nor height nor

depth. And it's this low hard place of I

I've never been in as difficult of a

season. I know there's some of you, I

don't know all of your stories, but I

know some of your stories. You're in a

season that you may describe as the

hardest in your entire life so

far. In a season that is just brutal. Or

you've been in that season and you're

coming out and you're like, I don't

know. I just want to feel again. I feel

numb.

Maybe that's kind of what Morgan was

speaking about for you of like I there's

so much turmoil inside of me. And it's

this not just this low part. It's not

like I stubbed my toe and so my day is

not going as good. It's like everything

is going wrong and I'm in this deep,

deep

valley, the valley of the shadow of

death where I can barely see the sun,

where I it's shadow everywhere and I'm

in this deep dark

place and in those

moments and some some some books have

described it as the dark night of

soul. It's this place that I can't even

describe. I can't even explain it to

you. I just I feel so lost. I feel so

hopeless. It's the highest of high

moments and the lowest of low

moments that actually I would argue is

one of the

greatest tools of the enemy that he uses

to pull people away from him.

Not just the lowest of

lows, but even the highest of

highs. And we see

this in in a couple different people. I

want to highlight three different people

today. I want to highlight Judas, Peter,

and

Paul. Looking through the lens of the

life of Judas, Peter, and Paul. And what

I love to do is I love to place myself

there in the moment in the feet in the

shoes, the sandals of Judas, of Peter

when you're in this, it's called Passion

Week. What it is, it's it's right after

Jesus rides into Jerusalem and they're

throwing down these palm branches and

their cloaks and everybody's shouting,

"Hosana, hosana in the highest, the

Messiah." What does that mean? It means

Lord save us. Our Messiah is here.

Publicly, people are coming out and

saying, "This ain't just a prophet. This

ain't just a good guy. This is the

Messiah." People are recognizing who

Jesus is, that he is the son of God. And

it's not this hidden thing anymore. It's

this big public thing. Up until that

moment, it is the greatest moment. This

is the greatest season, the greatest

week in all of Jesus ministry. Can you

imagine being the disciples in the

height of this moment of like, we've

kind of known this. We've kind of been

feeling this. We've I've I thought for a

little while and then I knew for certain

and now everybody is seeing it. And

guess who's walking right behind him? We

are. Guess who's in his crowd.

Guess who? He has anointed to be able to

go out and heal people. We're getting to

heal people as well. And these disciples

are in this peak on this

mountaintop, the greatest time in their

lives. And what is Jesus doing when he

rides into Jerusalem? He's coming in and

they're like, "We're about to take

over. We're about This is the riding of

the king, the new king into this

territory. He's going to take over.

We're going to be sitting on these

thrones with him. We're going to have

all the glory. This is so good. They

have no clue what's about to

come. But they're on this

peak. And so, how do they handle how do

you handle the peaks, the mountaintops

in your

life? If you look at the story of

Israel, if you look at the Old Testament

and you go through this cycle and you

see that they're in this cycle and then

you you go through first and 2 Kings,

first and second Chronicles and you go

through these histories and then the

prophets and you go through this whole

story of Israel and it's like I feel

like I've read this before. Wait, hold

on. Didn't I just read this a couple

chapters ago? And because again and

again and again, what do you have? You

have this moment where you get this king

that comes in and the king it says is

the worst king that has ever been a king

of Israel and they lead him into worship

of idols and they lead him into all

these dark places and they and and and

it's all this all this good stuff that

was going on and then they lead into

this dark disparity and guess what the

favor of the Lord lifts. Things start

becoming terrible and horrible and guess

what? They get down in this dump, this

valley, and they go, "Oh, God, we need

you." And a prophet comes in and says,

"Turn now. Turn towards the Lord, and he

will forgive you." And guess what they

do? They turn from the Lord. And guess

what he does? He forgives them. And

guess what happens? Things start going a

little bit

better. And they get to this peak moment

again and they're like, "Oh my goodness,

this is great." They start thriving. And

what happens? You get this from the

start of Solomon is when this starts.

and he get he's the kingdom is so

wealthy. It's one of the wealthiest

kingdoms that's ever existed in all of

history. And it's just it's incredible.

And so what does he do? He's just how do

you how do you show your wealth? How do

you show your power at that time as a

king? You marry as many women as you can

afford. And so he marries hundreds of

women and they're all and they lead him

and they entice him in this false

idolatry and and it and it falls and

then it's it's just this cycle again and

again and again and they come and they

repent. They come back to the Lord and

at the high point when things are going

great, they

go, you know, I think we got it from

here, God. Don't you

worry. I'll take it from

here. Because I don't know like if you

remember those

battles, we fought those

battles. And they forget, right? We

forget these moments when God won the

victory for us.

So I don't know exactly what was going

on in Judas's

heart. What moves from this place of

Judas being close to

Jesus and then become at this this then

selling his master for the price of a

slave. And he goes to these religious

leaders and he says, "Hey, you tell

me. I'll get you I'll I'll get you in

contact with Jesus. I'll get you up in

close with Jesus.

Give me 30 pieces of silver and I'm

good. I'm good. I'm

bought. What

happened? We don't all we we don't know

the the Bible doesn't tell us explicitly

and super clearly. But I I will tell you

the little bit that we know about Judas

is that he was the moneybag

handler for for Jesus men. But when

people Jesus didn't ask anybody to pay

anything but guess what when people

would experience the encounter they some

people would go what can we do how can I

give let me give and Judas was the one

in charge of the money and he was known

scripture says he was known for just

skimming a little bit off the top for

himself right like I mean I'm doing I'm

doing a lot of work

here right like that person that gave I

I was part of praying for them They were

healed when I prayed, right? Like I led

them over to Jesus when I couldn't

handle it. I let them over and that and

they're like, "Oh my gosh, thank you so

much." And and you know what? Listen, I

just just think about Judas here, right?

And it's like, listen, I this Jesus,

he's great. This Jesus, he is great.

He's a little bit

innocent, a little bit

naive. I don't think he realizes how

profitable this thing could be.

I don't think he realizes like he

changes people's lives.

Great. Oh, I think they'd give

everything. I don't think he I think we

can really benefit from this. We're on

this mountaintop. Do you know what I've

seen? I've seen people try to make Jesus

be king when he wasn't king. And he just

walks through this crowd. He just walks

right through. He escapes.

I've seen people come against him with

the greatest arguments and he gets out

of it. We don't even know how. And guess

what he said? He wants to walk into

Jerusalem. He said, and so he keeps

escaping these things. I think this is

the moment. This he's going to be

unstoppable and I think I can make me

some 30 pieces of silver on top of this

because I mean he's Jesus. So I think

he's going to be just fine.

So, I'm

gonna skim a little off the

top because it doesn't matter who comes

against him. He'll I that's what that's

what I I' I've read most scholars think

he probably thought Jesus would just get

out of

it. And that's why he carried so much

guilt and shame after to commit

suicide. And he he steps into but when

when he sees Jesus get arrested, he

throws the money back and he doesn't

want it. and he's like, "This is this is

not good. This was not the plan I

thought I

had." But he had been

deceived. So, the problem with peaks is

when we get to the top, we love Here's a

couple different things. Write this

down. The problem with

peaks, we love to get credit. When I get

to the mountain top, when I'm in the

valley and I'm going, "God, I need you.

I can't make this next payment. I don't

know how I'll ever pay my electricity

bill. I don't know how my rent payment

will come in. I don't know how I'm ever

going to get this, Lord. I'm so lonely.

Would you just send me someone? God, I'm

just so broken. Would you send people

around me to be able to help me out? And

then I get it to the mountain and I'm

like, don't

you did everybody see how well I saved

that money? Do you see how well I

stewarded that job? Do you see how well

I got in that interview and I just

killed it? Do you see how I wooed that

girl? Do you see how I got that man? Do

you see how I didn't like look at this?

Did you see how I got myself up to this

peak? And we love to get credit for this

thing that we begged God for. The

blessing that he gives. He places us up

there and then we

go, "Hey man, thanks. I got it from

here." I think that was mostly me anyway

because who was the one who fought those

battles? I was the one on the

battlefield, right? I was the one who

did that. I was the one who had the

conversations. I was the one who fought

for it. I was the one who said no to to

to the luxuries so that I could get I

could get my debt paid off. I was I was

the one who did it. And I love to get

credit. The problems with peaks is we

get credit. The second part is we get

complacent. We just get we get in this

place where we start to get a little bit

lazy.

we start to like I got here I like I

worked my butt off and it was great and

I was chasing the Lord and now my time

with the Lord it's just not as I don't

know you know it's just it's okay it's

okay I still I'll still read I I get I

get some of my days in I still get some

of my prayer time in I still like I'm

still going to group I've missed it a

couple times I still go to church like

I'm still doing this stuff I'm still I'm

I'm but I'm not as my heart's not in it,

right? You can come here and you can

walk out and you can be totally

unchanged. You harden your heart,

nothing, nothing can press through a

hard heart. If I say I'm not going to

get anything, I'm not going to get

anything. I get complacent. The third

thing that the third problem with peaks

is we get

comfortable. This is one of the greatest

problems with living in America.

I've heard of nations that will send

because the the these the schools and

the universities and the seminaries here

will give great Bible training and that

these nations would raise money. These

people would raise money and they got

this pastor who's got all this potential

and they say, "Hey, you go to America,

you get schooling, you come back and

you're going to bring you're we're going

to see so many churches planted through

you. You're going to get the education

that you needed." And they've stopped

doing it because they go they don't come

back. They get so

comfortable. They get all the benefits.

They get the cozy

seats. They get, you know, how many how

many restaurants are within walking

distance? And you know what? I've met a

couple people here who need Jesus as

well and they don't they never come

back. They've stopped sending

them because the the God of comfort is

so enticing. And he it's just oh, it's

just nice. Listen, I'd rather find the

most comfortable decision than to find

the most righteous

decision. And when I choose comfort over

righteousness, when I choose comfort,

when I find that I'm looking for the

easiest, which church is closest to my

house, which which what things can just

get me by, right? Like, oh, this reading

plan is like one verse a day. I can get

through that. That's okay. And then I

can check that box. I can do my thing.

That's easy enough for me. I can get

comfortable.

Well, the peaks, the comfortability of

the peaks will kill

you. And you'll find yourself pretty

soon going, "I'm still doing all this

stuff. I'm still going to church. I'm

still Why do I feel hollow inside

again? What's going

on? I feel like I'm doing my end of the

deal,

God." And

it's But here's the other problem. Then

we got we got Judas there. Now we got

Peter. So Peter's still in this moment

in uh Matthew 26. Matthew

Matthew 26:14–16

26:14-16, Jesus calls out

Judas. He calls out Jesus and he says,

"You're going to betray

me." And Judas, one of the 12, went to

the chief priest and asked, "What are

you willing to give me if I deliver him

over to you?" So they counted out 30

pieces of silver, the price of a slave.

From then on, Judas watched for an

opportunity to hand him over. Same room.

In the same room Judas left this room to

go have this conversation with the

priests. In the same room that Judas was

in, Jesus has this conversation. A few

verses later, verse

31, Jesus told him, "This very night,

you all will fall away on account of me.

For it is written, I'll strike the

shepherd, the leader, Jesus, and the

sheep of the flock will be scattered.

All the disciples will

leave. But after I have

risen, I will go ahead of you into

Galilee. And this is what Peter says.

Peter

replied, "Look at me, Jesus. If all fall

away, I will

never. I never will. Truly, I tell you,

Jesus says, I promise you

this. This very night, before the

rooster crows, before the sun comes up,

you're going to disown me three times.

Not just once, three times. But Peter

declared, "Even if I have to die with

you, I will never disown you. And all

the other disciples said the same. I'm

on the

peak. Everybody's worshiping and

celebrating who you are. We're now in

this they're having this Passover

dinner. Jesus says, "I'm instituting a

new covenant. This is like an incredible

moment." And it's just them in this

special room and they're having they're

getting to pray with Jesus. They're

getting to talk with Jesus. And it's

this amazing like it's happening. Can

you guys all believe it's happening?

And I just imagine being Peter and it

says that Jesus would tell them plainly

they're going to kill me and I'm going

to rise again in three

days. But the disciples were confused,

right? Like talking amongst themselves.

So I don't know what that means because

he talks like spiritually a lot, right?

Like find the treasure in the hidden

field and and that that's what the

kingdom of heaven is like, right? Like

it's it's all he's got these he's got

these parables, right? and find the lost

pearl, right? Like all this stuff. Okay,

cool. I don't know what this one means.

We're going to find out what it means,

right? When he gives the parable of

planting the seed, he doesn't actually

want us to go buy some seed and plant

the seed. He has other plans. So, I

don't know what this one means, but it's

something else. And Jesus just said it

so

plainly. And they're on this peak having

no clue this cliff's edge they're about

to walk

over. They go into the garden.

Jesus is praying and begging

God. Judas comes up, kisses him on the

cheek, betrays him. Jesus gets arrested.

The disciples scatter. And

Peter

following at a distance denies him one,

two, three times just as Jesus said.

Right after the third

one, morning was about to hit. The

rooster

crows. Oh

no, I did

it. See, the problem is Peter didn't

handle his peak right. So when he got to

the

valley, he

scattered. What happens in the valley?

The problem with valleys is we want to

run from God. Go, God, where are you?

We made this deal. I follow you. You

make my life

easy. We don't actually consciously make

that deal, but a lot of times we think

we do, right? Am I alone in that? When

life gets hard and I'm like, I thought

that was outside of the deal,

God. Right? Like sometimes we feel that

way. And he says, that's not the deal.

You follow me regardless of the cost and

it's going to benefit you a lot. You're

going to have lots of benefits, right?

If I'm not getting drunk all the time,

I'm not I'm not going to get a DUI. I'm

not going to get caught up in

relationships in the houses I shouldn't

be in. I'm not going to find myself with

with with mistakes and problems and

scars and issues and burdens and abuses

that that I didn't even like I get I get

escape a lot of things in that. But that

doesn't mean that life with Jesus means

easy

life. And so I I but sometimes I think

it does. And so when the valley hits,

when life smacks you in the face, you

want to run from God or you want to

reject

God, and you turn away from the only one

who's going to be able to walk you out

of the valley, the only one who's going

to be able to give you freedom, the only

one who's going to be able to be

faithful in

this. The only one I can't trust. We can

try to put a little bit of trust in

people, but the only one who's

trustworthy is

God. And this is where we ask these

questions. How can God be good when I've

experienced this level of darkness that

I've had, this level of abuse that I've

experienced, this trauma that I've had?

You don't understand the depth of the

valley that I've walked through, Pastor

Drew. So, you can say what you want to

say, but you don't get it. You're

probably

right. But I know someone who

does. I know someone who hit the

deepest, darkest, hardest valley

ever. To be deeper in the pit than you

will ever have to go. In my lowest

moments, it's been one of the most

comforting things he said to me. Said,

"I've been deeper in this pit than you

are right now, and I'll walk you out of

it.

in these moments when I feel like God is

absent, that's actually the very moment

he's closest. So, we've got Judas, we've

got Peter, Judas that failed in the

peak, Peter that failed in the valley,

and then you have Paul, the Apostle

Paul, who has learned differently. If we

can open up to Philippians 4, verse 11.

Philippians 4:11

Philippians 4:13 is some people, y'all

Philippians 4:13

may got this tattooed on your body. This

is a great one. Philippians 4:13. Can we

Philippians 4:13

pull this one up? I am able to do all

things through him who strengthens me.

Come on. And amen. Right. Yes. Oh, I

love that one. Right. I need to push a

24 foot box truck up a hill. Let's go.

Jesus got me. I can do this. Right. I

can do all things through Christ who

strengthens me. Oh, we take it out of

context. Here's a key here. Here's the

key. Anytime you're reading your Bible,

you got to read it in

context. Anytime you feel like there's

things that that the word of God seems

to butt heads with itself, read around

it. You're going to find out things that

you didn't find out, you're going to

realize what it means. Because if we

read the context, let's go back two

verses to verse 11. Can we pull up verse

11? This is the Apostle Paul writing

from prison.

He says, "I have learned to be

content in any circumstances I find

myself in. I know how to make do with

little and I know how to make do with a

lot. In any and all circumstances, I

have learned the secret of being

content. Whether well-fed or hungry,

whether in

abundance or in need, I'm able to do all

things through Christ who strengthens

me. Isn't that radically

different? We think it

means like it's it's this pep talk. And

in reality, it is kind of a pep talk,

but it's like, "Hey, I don't care

whether you're on your peak. I don't

care whether you're in your

valley. There's something that God's

calling you to do right here. Don't let

the peak kill you. Don't let the valley

deceive

you. Chase after

him. So this is this is where this is

the purpose of peaks. Okay? You can

write this down because there's actually

a divine purpose for these high moments,

these incredible purpose that the these

incredible times that we have. Don't

lose your opportunity. If you're like,

"Things are actually going pretty well

for me right

now. Don't lose the

opportunity." The purpose of the peaks

is to not get credit, to give

credit. The purpose of the Peaks is to

go, "Man, I can't believe, God, what

you've done." Can I tell you about a

time that I just experienced this last

summer? It's crazy. My 11-year-old boy

got gifted a boat, a 16 foot boat for

his birthday. It's insane. Yeah. I It

was It was gifted by a family member.

They They're in Fresno and there's It's

been sitting in our driveway for seven

years. If he wants it, you got to come

get it and pick it up. It's just insane.

I could never I never And I tell him I'm

like, "I don't think you understand. You

have no clue how insane this is. Like

crazy." He's like, "I do." I was like,

"You don't. You do not. You do not.

Y'all, I love this thing. We've been

out. We've gone out to the lake. We've

been tubing. We get out on the water.

And guys, I can't explain it to you.

It's this peak moment. It's this is

incredible. And I'm like blown away that

this is an experience that we get to

have. I just Maybe boats aren't your

thing. Maybe you're like, I have no clue

what you're talking about. Like, were

you smelling the moss and the mud and

the dirt of the lake? And I was like,

yes. I love it.

And you're like, you may not get it, but

man, oh, it's just this moment. The sun

starts setting. You see it reflecting

over the water. These birds are flying

over. We're just flying on the top of

the water. It's just incredible. And I

can't help. I get in the car and I go,

"Guys, I can't believe God." Like, this

is from this is a gift. This is

incredible. Can you believe what God has

given this? You don't deserve this.

There's nothing that we we don't got the

money to buy a boat. I don't know how we

got a boat. This is

insane. It's just I'm overwhelmed with

the credit that God deserves and the

gratitude to him. Here's the next thing

I find in on the peaks. You got to give

credit and then you got to give grace.

Because I've had these moments in my

life where I've noticed that's not the

tendency. I start hitting well on these

like after after a season of not being

healthy, not working out great, not

having the right habits, and then I step

into it. Want to know what I caught

myself in? When I first started really

building my habits and working out and

and spending time, deep time with the

Lord, guess what? My spirit looks to the

other people that weren't working out,

that weren't building their habits, that

weren't doing this, and I go,

"Man, wow.

You're just missing it, man. If you had

what I Come on. Wow. I can't believe you

wouldn't do that. And God's like, "That

was you literally a month ago,

bro. Well, I got to shut up, God. I'm

sorry." Right?

Like, I gota I got to learn when I'm on

the peaks. I got to give credit and I

got to give

grace. I got to give grace. I got to

remember where I was. I got to remember

where God's led me from. And then here's

another one. make

bookmarks because when I'm on my peak,

when I'm healthy, I just respond to life

different, right? I got cut off two

weeks ago and I was freaking out and

cussing out of my car about them and now

I'm cut off. Not literally, I'm just

telling a story, right? I don't but but

the idea like and but then now when I do

it, I'm like, "Oh, they're probably

running

late. Oh man, let's just bless them,

right?" I don't know what what the like

when you have these moments when it's

just like I respond easy and things

don't hit as hard anymore. People say

things and that I work they shot that

passive aggressive email over to me and

I'm like okay, right? Like and it just

falls off. It just doesn't stay on. It's

just it's not stuck. I And so what do I

do? I bookmark this. What's my mindset?

What's going on? Well, I just I I

realize God's good and that this thing

this ain't the big deal. So now when I'm

in my valley, I can go back to this

booknark and I can remember, hey, this

feels like a big deal, but I I when I'm

healthy, I remember it's not a big deal.

And now I know kind of where this home

base is and I can bookmark this thing

and I can go, oh, that's how I

responded. And then lastly, when you're

on your peak, do not lose the

opportunity. Build habits.

Build your habits on your

peak. When it's easy to spend time with

God because the work schedule just works

out, because things are just going well,

because you just have energy, you're not

sick, you're feeling healthy, things are

going great. Build the habits because

those are the habits that will sustain

you so that your next valley doesn't

smack you in the teeth quite as hard as

it would have

before. Build your habits.

If the band can come up. Last thing, if

we can stand up here. I God's also got

purpose for our valleys. And I want to

speak to though, go ahead and stand up

in here. I want to speak to those of you

who are in your

valley. There's a couple different

things I want to have us do. If you

still got your notebooks, you can write

this. The purpose of valley is to cling

to

God. Hold tightly. Don't run away from

him. Don't run away from the only person

who's going to save you.

Cling to

him. The only one who can save you.

Second, praise

him. I'll praise you in my valley. You

want to know what he says? Psalm

23. Yay. Though I walk through the

valley of the shadow of death, I know

you are with me. Your rod and your

staff, they comfort me. You prepare a

table before me in the presence of my

enemies.

He doesn't say, "You got me out of the

valley. You removed all the bad guys

around me." He says, "I've learned to

see the

banquet that you have for me in this

deep place. Even though I'm still

surrounded by my enemies, even though

I'm still in the valley of the shadow of

death, I've learned to see the provision

that you've given to

me." Do not lose. Do not miss the

opportunity in this hard place to give a

sacrifice of praise to God. If you're

not in a valley right

now, promise yourself right now, I'm

going to praise my way every day through

a valley because a valley is going to

come. It's inevitable. We're going to

have hard times. We're going to have

hard seasons. And the next valley that

you have is going to determine whether

you find yourself at the end of that

valley still in the presence of God or

going, "What happened?

Where? Where did I go

wrong? If I'm not handling my peak

right, I won't be able to sustain the

valley. The purpose of your valley is to

strengthen your

faith. If I want to get

strong, there's a common denominator in

every exercise. Every single one. If you

want to get fit, if you want to get in

shape, there's one common denominator

that's absolutely essential. Resistance.

Resistance builds

strength. Sometimes God places

resistance in our lives to strengthen

us. The resistance isn't a bad thing.

The valley is not a bad thing. Maybe he

wants to strengthen your faith. And then

lastly, here's the fourth one. Cling to

God. Praise God. Strengthen your faith.

And the fourth purpose of the valley is

to grow your spirit.

I don't know if you've ever been on a

mountain

top. I'm not talking Mount Crescent.

That don't

count. A

mountaintop past the tree line. You get

up to the top of these mountains and

there's it's just dirt and

rocks and clouds underneath you. It's

the most it's it's

insane. But I'll tell you what I don't

see. I don't see any grass. I don't see

trees. I don't see shrubs. I don't see

anything. Because you want to know where

things grow? Things grow in the

valleys. I love the

peaks, but I don't grow on the peaks.

Things grow in the

valleys. I want to encourage encourage

us

here to take on the promise of God.

Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28

There's a couple chapters before where

where we were reading. We got Romans

Romans 8:20

8:20. Can we pull that up? Says, "We

know all things all things work together

for the

good of everybody ever."

Nope. For the good of those who go to

church.

No. for the good of those who love God

and are called according to his

purpose. I can't guarantee you that your

peak is going to be great or how long

it's going to last. I can't guarantee

you about your valley. I can't guarantee

you that your valley and your hard

season is going to be a benefit to you.

I want to tell

you God can strengthen you in this. But

the defining characteristic is how hard

I cling to him. how how much I lean into

him in these hard times. So, I want to

invite us here. I want to invite us to

make a decision. If you're on a peak in

your life and it's great, if you're in a

valley and you go, I've never

experienced a darker season in my life.

Or maybe you're like, I'm just kind of

there. I got some good things. I got

some bad things. I got I'm kind of in

the middle somewhere

there. Make a commitment right now. God,

I'm going to trust you. God, I'm gonna

love you. God, I don't care how good it

gets or how bad it gets. I will never

leave your

side. Can we say that? Is that just me?

Do we got faith for that in the room?

Come on. I want us to declare it. We're

going to sing this song again. We're

going to sing this song. Lord, lead me

where my trust of you is without

borders.

There's no peak that's too high that'll

cause me to abandon my father. There's

no valley that's too low that'll cause

me to run away from my savior. I promise

God if I got nothing else, I will just

keep showing up. I'll just keep coming

back. Even when my love is weak, even

when my faith is weak, I'm going to give

you all of the 2% that I have. I got

nothing to give, but I'm going to give

it all to you. And I make that promise.

Can we pray that? Can we close our eyes?

I want

us I want us to sing this song with a

depth in our soul of a promise to God, a

commitment to him that no matter the

heights nor heights nor depth, it's not

going to stop his love, but I can reject

his love. I will not allow for the peaks

and the valleys of life to cause for me

to reject the love of God.

Amen.

Come on.

This ain't just notes. These aren't just

words. This is to the Lord. This is to

the Lord.

It's the strengthening in the valleys.

Come on.

Spirit lead me where my trust is

without you.

Wherever, wherever.

Find the strength. Find the growth. Find

the praise within you. Come on. Come on.

He's worthy of it. He's worthy of more

praise than we're giving him right now.

God, we give it to you. Wherever you

would call me,

take me deeper than my feet could ever

walk and my faith will be made stronger

in the presence of my

savior. His presence is right here. If

you're in the valley, he says, "That's

where I'm nearest to the

brokenhearted." If you're on the

mountaintop, this is your time to praise

him for where he's got you.

Thank you, Father.

So I will call upon your name

and keep my eyes above your

wrest I am

yours and you are mine.

No matter the season. That's my promise,

God. That's our promise, God.

Come on. I want to take a second here.

There's a verse in the Bible that's

never actually, it's not a verse in the

Bible, but we quote it as if it's

scripture. God will never give you

something that's too big for you to

handle.

He will. He

does. He often loves to when we need it.

But I'll tell you what, this isn't

scripture. A cord of three strands is

not quickly

broken. When I'm with him, when I'm

tightly connected to

him, and when I'm with my brothers and

sisters in Christ, and I got arms linked

around beside, the valley may be too

deep for me.

The peak may be too high for

me, but I got brothers and sisters

around me that can walk me through it,

that can keep me faithful, that can give

me

reminders. So, what I want to do is I I

want whether you are in a peak or in a

valley

season. Can you put your hand up? We

need to take them both seriously. Do not

be deceived by the peak. Put your hand

up. And I want for those of you around,

can we just place a hand on the shoulder

of those around us? If someone's got a

hand up, you can if you got a hand up,

you can place a shoulder on someone

beside you. Hand on the shoulder of

someone beside you as well. But come on,

let's get let's get a hand on each other

so that we can go, hey, I'm going to

walk you through. I'm going to lift you

up. I'm going to encourage you in this.

When you go, I don't even know if I

believe this whole good God thing

anymore. I hear it. I get it. My heart's

not there. Father God, I pray right now

for those who are on a peak. That we

would not be deceived by the goodness,

thinking that it is all because of us.

That we would not find ourselves

complacent, would not give into the

comfort, but would drive on, would use

this moment to propel the gospel forward

because nothing's holding us back right

now. God, I pray for those who are in a

valley. I pray for those who feel like

they can't give anything else. Lord, in

the name of Jesus, God, I pray that

there God, that there would be life,

there would be strength, that they would

see that there is a banquet. There is a

table of food already set up for them

exactly where they are. They do not have

to be alone. They because they are not

alone. I pray that we would invite

people into our pain. I pray we would

invite people into our victories. And

God, I pray that together, together,

Father

God, that we will sustain and we will

give praise in every single season. In

the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Come

on, can we give a hand for the word of

the Lord? Come on, praise God. Praise

God.

Hey, thanks so much for watching today's

message. Our prayer is more than the

words that were spoken in the message

that you would remember the things that

God spoke to your heart. Yeah. And no

matter what it was that God spoke to

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Yeah. Thanks so much for watching. We're

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We believe that the best days are ahead

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