He's The God Of The Low Places

extend that greeting today. Thank you so much

for being in the house of the Lord this morning.

In case I forget a little bit later, I've been

prone to get wound up and forget things. If you

go out those doors to my left, your right, we'll

have a smiling face there to bless you and just

to let you know how much we do appreciate you

being here today. And trust and pray that The

Spirit of the Lord has already met your heart

through your praise, through your worship. Amen.

And you've already encountered the grace of God.

Amen. For He is truly here. He's truly faithful,

is He not? Amen. God is truly good. There's an

old song. Come to my mind, I don't know. A former

pastor of mine, when I was just a boy, this was

his favorite song. It's on page 285 in that old

red back end. If you look at 1 Kings 20, around

23 is where we're going to take our text from.

I want to preach to you this morning from the

thought, he's the God of the low places. He's

the God of the low places. And then a large portion

of this message is about valleys. And then I

got to thinking about this old song on page 285

in that old redback. It says, The Lily of the

Valley. How many has ever heard that old song?

Anybody not heard it? Anybody not heard that

old song? It's one of those little bit quirky,

rhythmed. type songs, and sometimes it's hard

for me to get. I get all jumbled up, but we'll

catch up on it. Let's see if I can get this.

Well, I have a friend in Jesus. He's everything

to me. He's the fairest of 10 ,000 to my soul.

The lily of the valley, in him alone I see all

I need to cleanse and make me fully whole. In

sorrow, he's my comfort. In trouble, he's my

stay. He tells me every care on him to roll.

Well, he's the lily of the valley, the bright

and morning star. He's the fairest of 10 ,000

to my soul. Let's try that third verse. He will

never, never leave me and yet forsake me here.

By faith and do his will. I told you. A wall

of fire about me, I've nothing now to fear. With

his manna he my hungry soul shall feel. Then

sweeping up to glory to see his blessed face

where rivers of delight shall ever roll. Well,

he's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning

star. He's the fairest. Let's do that first one

again. That's my favorite anyway. Well, I found

a friend in Jesus. He's everything to me. He's

the fairest of 10 ,000 to my soul. The lily of

the valley, in him alone I see all I need to

cleanse and make me fully whole. In sorrow, he's

my comfort. In trouble, he's my stay. He tells

me every care on him to roll. For he's the lily

of the valley, the bright and morning star. He's

the fairest. of 10 ,000 to my soul. Aren't you

glad for the lily of the valley? Aren't you glad

that he still blooms? Huh? Aren't you glad he's

still faithful? Aren't you glad he still tells

us to own him all our care roll? I am. Hallelujah.

He's the fairest of 10 ,000 to my soul. Amen?

Amen. I've broken a rule where We're live this

morning, at least at my house. I can do that.

I'm the pastor, you know. Miss you, baby. 1 Kings

1 Kings 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20. We're going to read a couple of verses.

I want to read verse 23 and verse 28. Several

years ago, I preached a version of this message,

and we're going to see what the Lord does with

it again today. He stirred my heart on this message.

Amen. Half of the crowd is going to be happy

today, and the other half are going to be not

so happy. That being, how many of you are normally

freezing to death in here on Sunday? Raise your

hand. Come on, don't be shamed. Okay, you should

feel a little better because we've got one side

of the compressors down through one of the lightning

storms this week. And so that means the rest

of you have to suffer while they feel a little

bit more comfort. You know, you get half one

week and half the next week. If you can break

half, you're doing good. Amen. Verse 23. Chapter

20 of the book of 1 Kings. And the servants of

the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are

gods of the hills. Therefore, they were stronger

than we. But let us fight against them in the

plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

Verse 28. And there came a man of God. Aren't

you glad that when you need something, God will

send you a word? Amen. He'll send a word. When

you're in need, he will send a word. And there

came a man of God and spake unto the king of

Israel and said, Thus saith the Lord. When you

get to there now, it's on, right? It's done settled.

It's done done. Thus saith the Lord, because

the Syrians have said, the Lord is God of the

hills, but he is not God of the valleys. Therefore

will I deliver all this great multitude into

thine hand, and you shall know that I am the

Lord, the God of the low places. I'll pray for

you if you pray for me. Father, we love you.

We thank you for your goodness, your mercy, and

the abundance of your grace. I ask God that you'd

have your way in our hearts and our minds this

morning, for truly you are good and your mercy

endures forever. Lord, not to be absent -minded

of the happenings of our nation and all that's

going on in this world. Again, another second

hand on the time clock of eternity has already

clicked. Lord, we know the despair that's in

the world. We know the wars and rumors of wars

that are going on in this world. And I ask God

today that you would speak of peace. that only

you can. Lord, may you intervene on behalf of

nations of this world. Unless it be the time

of the sending of your son, and if it be so,

even so, Lord, come quickly. Maranatha, hallelujah.

Come quickly. Help us today, Father God, in Jesus'

mighty and holy name. And the church said, amen

and amen. Tell your neighbor, he's God in the

low places. I want you to keep in mind today,

because once I get wound up, I know I'll forget.

Remember Pastor Brian and Sister Erica and the

team, they're going over to minister this evening

at a district service in the Sequatchie Valley

over at the Dunlap District. So that's the reason

he's not singing. He's kind of got a little bit

of stuff going on. He's saving all he's got for

tonight. Amen. So just pray the Lord use them

in a mighty way. Souls be saved, touched, sanctified,

filled with the Holy Ghost, healed, delivered.

And the Lord just use them in a mighty way. Amen.

God of the low places. Something I think would

prove well for us to remember is that the devil

is a loud mouth. I just want you to know that.

The old term and the old phrase is he's a blowhard.

Anybody know what I'm talking about? He likes

to boast. He likes to brag, amen, and just blow

his smoke as the old saying goes. And especially

he will do that if he ever gets a little bit

of an inkling of victory over God's people. If

he thinks he's getting the upper hand on you,

he's going to try to brag about it. He's going

to try to boast about it to you mainly. You know,

he tries to boast. and those in whom he's trying

to gain victory over. But God, however, is very

jealous for his namesake, amen, his reputation,

and his people. Therefore, allowing the enemy

to win and to brag actually rubs God the wrong

way. He's not for that, amen. So God is invested

in the overthrowing of the schemes of the wicked

one, the enemy against God's people, and he's

all about vindicating God's children. You do

remember the word of the Lord says, vengeance

is mine. saith the Lord. Amen? You don't ever

have to worry about getting back at the devil

or anyone. If you'll just hold on. If you'll

just hold on, you'll see God do something for

you that you can sit back. Now, I know we don't

like to do this, but, you know, you do. You'll

sit back and kindly smile when you see the Lord

overtake your enemy. You know, we feel sorry

for them, but we kindly say, like, yeah, mess

with me again. Right? Come on. God's got me.

He's got you. Amen. We'll pray for them, but

we can pray for them with a smile on their face.

Amen. In our text this morning, we see to what

extent God will actually go to and how God intervenes.

And he will stop short at nothing will hinder

him from short -circuiting the plan and all that

the enemy has devised against his people. God

loves to mess up the devil's plan. He enjoys

putting the enemy off. Amen? He does. And so

what we need to see this morning from this text

is a very encouraging word. It encouraged me

all over again. It's really stirred in my heart

that God is on our side. Amen. No matter what

the enemy's trying to do, no matter how he's

trying to destroy, deceive, God is on our side,

and he'll not allow the enemy to try up over

you very long. Amen. He's not going to allow

him to have super superiority over your life,

especially if you come before him and you do

what his word says and you cast all your care

on him for he cares for you. When you do that,

God is on your side. He will take up your cause.

He will take up your plight. Your battle becomes

his battle. Amen. And God will be on your side.

And when we think about this God of the low places,

understand that it's... It's a reference to valleys

in our life. Amen. And we need to know that God

encourages us in our low moments, in our low

times. Amen. Here we have the Syrian army. The

Israelites defeated them in the hill country.

And you've got some king's servant who had a

bright idea. Hey, hey, their God is the God of

the hill country. That's why we lost. That's

why we got to feed. He's the God of the hills.

And I tell you what, if we can get them down

in the valleys, we can take them. We can take

them if we get them down in the valley. Amen.

The term valley actually means an elongated depression

in the earth's surface. But the term many years

ago has begun to relate to the body and the people

of God who have found low places in their life.

It's an elongated, long, depressive state sometimes.

that we find ourselves getting into. It's not

a pleasant moment. Sometimes valleys are pleasant.

Amen. Sometimes they are. They're not always

to be despised and rejected. Sometimes there's

some beautiful moments in the valley. Can I tell

you, that's going to be one of the closest places

you'll ever walk with God is when you're walking

in the valley because that's when I need him

the most. Amen. That's when I need him to come

nearer. That's when I need that kindness and

the gentleness and the comfort of the Holy Ghost.

Amen. Just walk with me. Sister Kathy and I was

riding the other day, and I began to sing that

old song. He comes in the garden. Amen. I walked

in the garden alone while the dew was still on

the roses. And the voice I hear calling on my

ear, the voice of God gently calling and walks.

with me and he and he tells me and the voice

I hear falling home my ear none other has ever

known see that's the valley you get that in the

valley he comes to you he'll walk with you and

the voice that you hear and the joy that you

hear and the comfort that he provides is in the

valley. Amen. When we're on the mountain, we're

flying high in our own strength. Amen. We're

going in the victories that we have just fought

and God has helped us win and we're doing pretty

good. But when we begin the descent, amen, when

we begin to go down and we all go down, don't

ever think for a moment that the characteristics

of the valley aren't applicable to every one

of us because these low places will appear in

our Our lives from time to time. Some characteristics

of the valleys are this. They are unavoidable.

Valleys in life are unavoidable. You can't get

around them. Amen. You can't get away from them.

At one point or another or maybe many times in

your life, the longer you live, the more valleys

that you will trod through. Amen. The more that

you will have to go through. Things are going

on and things are going to happen in our lives.

It's going to bring us to some elongated journey.

It's going to bring us to a depressed section

of life, and we're going to be low, and we're

going to be down. You can count on it. It's unavoidable.

You're going to find one. It's always been said,

either this, you're either coming out of a valley

right now, or you're in the middle of a valley,

or you're at the threshold about to go into a

valley. That's just the way life works. That's

just the way the enemy is out to steal, to kill,

and to destroy every single one of us. And you

don't think for a moment that he's going to give

us ample peace, do you? No. oh, he's coming tomorrow.

He's coming on Tuesday. He'll show up on Wednesday.

He'll show up on Thursday. But that's all right

because there is a blooming lily in every single

valley, and he's the fairest of 10 ,000 to my

soul. Okay, devil, I know there's a valley coming

my way. I may be in it. I may be coming out.

I may just be getting started, but that's okay

because my God is the God of the valley. Hallelujah.

I don't care what the enemy says, but he's only

fighting for you. you on the hillside. No, he's

fighting for me and walking with me and talking

with me as I'm going through the valley. Every

valley that I go through, the anointed one is

with me. And there is a rose of Sharon that blooms

with the lily. I'm here to tell you today, he

is the God of the low places. these characteristics.

They're unavoidable. You can't go around it.

You can't go over it. You can't tunnel under

it. You've got to go through it. You've got to

go through it. So they're unavoidable. Another

characteristic about valleys is they're unpredictable.

Isn't that the truth? It's like all three stations

of our weather people. All of our meteorologists

around our area. The Tennessee Valley weather

is unpredictable. They try. I know they do. Or

at least I think they do. They spend a lot of

money to get an education. And why we watch the

European model for our weather to begin with

just baffles me. I mean, what do they know? It

rains over there all the time anyway. Valleys

are unpredictable. You cannot plan valleys. You

can't time valleys out. Amen? They're unscheduled.

They're usually and most always come at the most

inconvenient moments of your life. Because if

it wasn't inconvenient for you and the worst

possible time for a valley to show up, then why

would the enemy carve it out in front of you?

It has to be unpredictable. It's like a... Have

you ever had a flat at a good time? Come on.

Have you ever had a flat tire at an opportune

moment when you've got all the time in the world

to fix it? No. That's not when your tire's flat.

It's when you hit snooze three times and you're

late for work already and you get up and run

out the door and there it is. Flat is the old

saying, a flitter. Flatter to flitter. Anybody

ever heard that? That's not opportune. That's

not scheduled. It's so unpredictable. You didn't

decide to run over a tack that the roofer let

out of the truck yesterday coming home. That

was not scheduled. That was not planned. Matter

of fact, it's the most unopportune moment for

a flat there is. Or if you're going down the

highway and you run over something going to some

place that you needed to have been 10 minutes

ago, pow, pow. pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,

and over on the side of the road. And you're

sitting there wanting to pull every hair of your

head out. Unless you're Randy. I don't know what

he does. How frustrated do you have to be? There's

no opportune time for valleys. Amen? They're

unpredictable, but they're coming. So just get

ready. That's why you carry a spare tire, hopefully.

I don't. Just call AAA or somebody. Something

else about valleys. Valleys are impartial. They're

equal opportunity offenders. Hello? No one is

immune, so thereby we are all subject to. Amen?

They are impartial. Can I tell you, the devil's

out to kill, steal, and to destroy us all. Amen.

I know I'm God's favorite son. I know I am. I

know he loves me more than he loves any of you.

I know that. Favor, God's grace and favor leans

my way, even in my valleys. No matter how low

they are and no matter how low they become, God...

God loves me. And let me just share it with you.

I know I like to say that, but God loves you

every bit as much as he loves me. Amen. His grace

is extended to you every day as much as he extends

his grace toward me every single day. As valleys

are impartial, so is God. All that call upon

the name of the Lord shall. Be saved. Call unto

me and I will answer you. Show you things that

are higher than you and more mightier than you.

I'll show you. I will baffle you. You just prove

me and see. That's for you. That's for me. As

the valleys are impartial, so is God's abundant

grace and love. Yes, you're going to make it.

Yes, you're going to hold on. Yes, you're going

to go down. Yes, you're going to go into the

valley. It's impartial. It's truly coming your

way. The Word of God says in Matthew 545, God

causes his son to rise on the evil and the good,

and he causes it to rain. He sends rain on the

righteous, and he sends rain on the unrighteous.

What does that mean, Pastor? Everybody's going

to get wet from time to time, but the sun is

also going to shine for everyone at one time

or another. So get your Eeyore off of you, amen.

Go ahead and pin your tail on right and start

walking now. God, Eeyore. Pick your head up.

Linus, wring out your blanket because the cloud

isn't going to follow you every single day. Hallelujah.

You might as well. I've come to tell myself.

I've come to tell everybody listening. I've come

to tell everyone sitting here today. We've got

to tell ourselves by his grace which is sufficient

for our life. Pick up our head. Pick up ourselves

and get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready,

get ready because the grace of God is all sufficient.

Come on, Eeyore. Pick up. We need to get a little

tigger in our life. I wish the kids was in here

that morning. They'd be laughing. We need a little

tigger in our life. We need a little spring to

our step. It's hard to spring in the valley,

trust me. But that's when we need the spring.

That's when we need to understand and realize

that God's grace is with us in the low places.

Here we have the Syrians saying that God is only

God on the mountain and he's not God in the valley.

Well, they never heard that Bestow Goodman song,

didn't they? He's a God on the mountain and he's

still God in the valley. When things go wrong,

he'll make them right. Amen? They didn't hear

that song. They'd have heard that song. They

would have never said that and cost them the

ultimate defeat that entered into their life.

He's only God on the mountain. They did not know

who Jehovah really was. Had they known for sure

that Jehovah was the God of the universe and

the God of the creations and the God who spoke,

he was Elohim. Had they only known, they would

have never let those foolish words out of their

mouth. Oh, we have to be careful what foolish

words we let out of our mouths. Another characteristic,

valleys are temporary. Say that with me. Say

it again. Valleys are temporary. Valleys are

temporary. Valleys are not caves. Valleys are

temporary. Elongated depressions in the earth's

surface. That's a valley. The longest valley

in the world is the Great Rift. I wrote it down

here somewhere. Here it is. It's the Great Rift

Valley. It stretches 4 ,300 miles from Asia,

Jordan in Asia, all the way through Mozambique

into Africa. 300 miles. But can I tell you, it

doesn't go all the way around and come back and

meet itself. No, valleys are like tunnels, not

caves. You may have to get around a little bit

of geography change, but you'll eventually see

the light at the other end. It's just not a cave

that you're in. The devil's trying to tell you

that it's over. It's all finished. You're done.

You're washed up. There's no more good for you,

but I'm here to tell you right now, you're not

in a cave, and they're not going to put dirt

over you and bury you. It's like a rut. A rut

is like a grave with both ends knocked out, and

if there's a way out, I'm going to find it. Hallelujah.

I'm not stupid. staying. You've got to determine

I'm not staying in this temporary condition.

I'm not remaining in this valley forever because

Osama said, yea, though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death, his declaration is I

will fear no evil while I am here on my temporary

journey. Temporary. Keep a cool head. Keep calm,

collective. Preaching to myself. On my first

missionary trip to Ecuador with Brother Ronald

Reagan, we're sitting on a bus for a couple hours

waiting on the local folk to get around, get

up, and let's get going. And he told us something.

He could tell we was all getting kind of... A

bunch of us were pastors, and once you set things

up, let's get it going. Eight o 'clock means

eight o 'clock, doesn't it? Well, along about

ten, they finally showed up. Brother Reagan told

us, he said, listen, be flexible, and you won't

get bent out of shape. I was kindly already getting

twisted sitting on that bus. Sort of getting

twisted out of shape. And then he said that.

I always remember. Be flexible and you won't

get bent out of shape. Look, in your valley,

don't become rigid. Rigid breaks. Rigid fractures.

Amen. Rigid will warp if you're not careful.

But flexible. Come on. I about threw one out

right there. I felt it click. Oh, Lord. Be flexible

and you won't get bent out of shape. When it

comes to things of the Spirit in your life, be

flexible. Amen? If you're flexible, you won't

get bent out of shape. 1 Peter 5 and 8 and 11

says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary,

the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking

whom he may devour. Whom resists. steadfast in

the faith. Can I tell you the only way you're

going to resist him is in the faith? You can

try yourself. You can try your anger. You can

try your doubt. You can try everything, your

frustration. You can try to resist him and all

of that, and all you're going to get is more

frustrated. All you're going to get is madder

by the minute because that's not how we resist

the devil that's coming against us, that's roaring

against us in our low places, in our valleys

of life. The only way we stand steadfast against

him as if we resist him in the faith. And how

do we do that, Pastor? Oh, Lord, we resist him

in the faith because greater is he that's in

us than he that is in this world. That's how

I resist him by faith, knowing that if God be

for me, then who can be against me? That's how

I stand. That's how we're going day by day. That's

how I'm going to walk through and out the other

end of any valley that presents itself in the

duration of my faith. on this earth. You'd be

well to serve yourself notice as well. There

is a devil out there. Whom resists steadfast

in the faith? Knowing. Here's something else.

You got to know some stuff. Amen. Knowing that

the same afflictions are accomplished in your

brethren that are in the world. The next time

that you take a break in your valley at the juniper

tree of life and you start making yourself some

sour grape juniper drink and you're supping on

the bitter root of life and you're trying to

sit under the shade in the depression of your

valley and you start declaring, well, woe is

me. Oh, despair and agony. Why me, oh God, why?

I'll tell you why you. Why not you? Why not me?

Why not us? Why not the church? Why not the people?

We're the ones that are supposed to be walking

by faith, amen, trusting in God's unchanging

hand. Why not us? Because the afflictions of

the brethren, knowing that they've already endured,

they have already come through victorious, knowing.

That the same afflictions are accomplished in

your brethren that are in the world. Next time

the devil jumps up on your shoulder or sends

one of his little imps to whisper in your ear,

well, God don't love you. If he loved you, you

wouldn't be going through this. I have you to

know he loves me because I'm going through it.

I'm going through it because he loves me. Huh?

He trusts me. I know some of you are saying,

I wish he didn't trust me so much. But I've not

endured in life anything such as old man Job.

I've not endured that stuff. Neither have you.

Hello? Neither have you. He made it. If he made

it, you and I are going to make it. Why? Because

we serve the same God he did, the God of the

low places. And I'll tell you what he'll do when

you're all piled up and scraping the sores off

your body and your friends have come up and said,

well, what did you do? Right? Your good friends,

one come up and sat across the fire and looked

at you for a week and never said a word. You

know what it'd make you want to do? Crawl around

the fire and slap somebody. Come on. That's one

of my slim winter jackets. It's hot out there.

I had on one of my loose -fitting summer jackets,

but it was way too loose. Yeah, it makes you

want to slide around the fire and slap somebody.

And then when they do start talking to you, they

say, well, what did you do? You had to have sinned

against God, Job. What did you do? And Job's

sitting over there, I know, thinking, I can't

think of a thing. I offer up sacrifices for my

children. I worship for myself. We give. We've

done everything that we're supposed to do. We

show up at time for worship. I don't know what

I could have done against God. It's not that

you've done anything against God. Hear me now.

Somebody needs to hear the pastor this morning.

You haven't offended God just because you're

going through a rough patch. You haven't made

him mad and you've searched. I always search

myself. I pray, seek God as the Holy Ghost. If

there be any sin in me, purge me and cleanse

me. Convict me, bring it to my knowledge that

I may utter my repentance. Amen. Because I don't

want anything between me and God. And I tell

God that God. Do not let me sin against you.

And if I have, oh, bring it to my mind that I

may repent unto you. And if I can't think of

it, purge me anyway. Cleanse me anyway. Let the

blood that flows from Emmanuel vein, let it cleanse

me, Lord, so that I have not ought against you.

It's not that you've messed up. It could be that

as the enemy against your soul has showed up,

To staff meeting in heaven. And God said to the

devil, have you considered my servant Job? Come

on now. I know we don't like this one, but remember,

things are temporary. Things are temporary. Have

you considered my servant Job? Well, I love the

devil's answer. Well, yeah, I thought about him,

but look, I can't even get to the old boy. You've

got a hedge built up around that boy. I've thought

about him many times. I've walked by Job's compound

and think, man, if I could get in there, I could

really do some work against that old boy. I could

really destroy him. And don't you know that God

knew that the devil wanted at Job so bad? He

knew, but he knew Job too. Have you considered

my servant Job? I have considered him, but if

you'll take that hedge down, I'll have him cursing

you before the month's out. Okay, here's the

line. You leave him alone. His life is mine.

You do whatever you want to, but you cannot take

his life. He is mine. So the devil set out to

do his best. He broke him. He took his family.

He took everything, but he couldn't take his

integrity. Are you hearing me this morning? Are

you listening to me? In his low place when he's

sitting with broken pot shards and scraping scabs

and pus running out of sores that's all over

his body. And his wife sitting across from him

so broken, so in despair because all of her children

are now deceased. And she's in agony. And she

said, Job, are we going to keep doing this? Let's

just curse God and die. But I love the answer

of the man of God. I'm telling you, there's a

word. when there's a man of God that shows up

on the scene. Job said, I'm not going to curse

him, honey. Shall we not receive good at the

hand of God? And shall we not receive the hardships

of life? Can we not take it both? He's still

God. And he said as he bowed his face to the

earth and he began declaring, he said, the Lord

giveth and the Lord taketh away, but blessed

be the name of the Lord. And all his dilemma,

the Bible says, that Job never sinned against

God with his mouth. Hey, he's the God of the

low place. Jump ahead just to prove that it's

temporary, but the time it's all over, said and

done with, God shows up at the lowest point,

and he shows up out of a whirlwind. I call it

a 38 special. Job chapter 38. My Lord. And out

Job 38 · chapter mention

of the whirlwind. Isn't life a whirlwind sometimes?

Don't you feel like you're just getting picked

up and tossed around like a rag doll? Amen. Because

of the hardships and the valleys and the depressions

that you have to go through in life. And out

of all of that, all of his despair, three friends,

amen, just never found anything good to encourage

him with. Bless her heart, Sister Jo was in such

despair, but Job maintained his faith. Amen.

Oh, it wasn't that he didn't complain. Oh, he

complained. He said it cursed be the day it was

announced that a man child was born and mama

named him Job. That day cursed be that day. He

said, oh, that I had a pen that I could carve

and put lead in a stone regretting my birthday.

Now that's pretty much complaining. Right? God's

okay with your complaint. Just don't turn it

into an accusation. Because he's still good.

Temporary they are. He said, after that you have

suffered a while. First Peter, back to there.

Long way around to get back to here. After that

you have suffered a while, he's going to make

you perfect. It's going to establish you. It's

going to strengthen you. These trials are going

to settle you. And then he says this, to him

be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Can I tell you, every victory that you and I

win out over the enemy in the valleys of life

simply magnifies and glorifies God to a greater

level and a greater degree. When we pick ourselves

up by the bootstraps, we get our lip rolled up

off the ground and declare it, the Lord giveth

and the Lord taketh away, but blessed be the

name of the Lord. Hallelujah. When we get the

resolve to know that we are not alone in our

suffering, the only one. The devil will tell

you you're the only one that's been where you

are and he is lying to you because the brethren

around this world have already accomplished the

afflictions that you and I are dealing with and

going. We're not the first nor will we be the

last as long as the Lord tarries. We're not the

first and we're not the last. It's proven good

things happen to bad people, and bad things happen

to good people. But know this, it changes not

the faithfulness of God. So many people want

to know why God permits and allows, and I mentioned

to you a little bit the other week, why all this

stuff's going on in the world. It's our fault.

It's sin. I said, well, God could do something

about that. He did. He sent Jesus. Oh, you mean

he should make everybody be good. Oh, he's going

to. He's going to. Just don't be in a hurry for

it. Oh, it's going to get better. Amen. Matter

of fact, let me tell you how sad it is. He's

going to remove. Everybody that don't. Now, instead

of that smile I mentioned earlier, our hearts

should have just shattered. Because that means

they're going to be moved from the love and the

joy and the light of God's grace. They're going

to be cast into outer darkness forever and ever.

Where the Bible says there's weeping, wailing,

and gnashing. Where the worm, the flesh eating,

died not. Forever. And ever. And ever, and ever,

and ever, and ever. You get the point. So don't

let despair. Cripple you in your temporary condition.

Valleys have purpose. Now I come, I don't have

my clock today. So I'm just going to preach.

Valleys have purpose. God has a reason for allowing

and permitting and taking us through the valleys

of life. We may not understand them even when

we get through them. We may still have no clue

as to why we had to go through what we went through.

But whether you have a valley that's filled with

doubt, despair, discouragement, defeat, and any

other this or the that can enter into your life.

You have to know that God has a purpose for you

being there. Romans 8, 28 probably defines it

as well as anything. And we know that all things

work together for good. To them that are loving

God and to them who are called according to His

purpose. It may be that the purpose has nothing

to do with you or me. The purpose may be someone

who is watching us. It may be someone else who's

looking on to your faith that you've been testifying

of. And God needs to get a word to them. And

he's going to use you to get it to them. How

many is going to jump in line first for that?

Not many of us. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Use me, God. No,

here, you get in front of me. I'm going to prefer

my brother and nine sisters. That ain't the line

we jump in first for. We jump in that bless me

line. Woo. Put me there up front. Hello. We don't

get in this purpose line, but there is a purpose

for every ordeal of our life, and it may have

nothing to do with us at all. But one thing that

it has to do with you and I is that as we're

going through it, if it's for someone else's

benefit, His grace is to us, not necessarily

to them. You receive the grace to make it through,

that His purpose, He being glorified, you being

lifted. You being equipped, you and I being perfected,

you and I being strengthened, you and I being

established, settled, but it may be to their

deliverance. People are watching our lives. And

how we deal with the low places testifies to

them. More than what we say when we're on the

high places. They don't really watch you too

closely when things are going real good because

we kind of get obnoxious. You know, I like everybody

to know I'm blessed. You know? But they get real

attentive when the wheels fall off. Let's see

what they're going to do now. Let's see where

that joy they come in here every morning to work

is now. Let's see where that song, are they going

to sing that lily of the valley again today?

It's the low places that tell them about God's

grace. They all have purpose. Wherein you greatly

rejoice, though now for a season. Temporary,

somebody say it. Temporary. For a season, if

need be, you are in heaviness. Through manifold

temptation. Manifolds more than one. A manifold

flows many aqueducts into one single aqueduct.

Your car got a manifold unless you're Brother

Randy over here. Brother Randy over here. It

has to do something with the Randy that wants

to drive a battery around. Double A. But mine's

got a manifold on it. Mine just so happens to

be a V8. I got two manifolds on each side that

funnel four cylinders exhaust out to one. Sometimes

we got more than one thing going on at a time

in our life. Sometimes you got more than one

issue. Sometimes we got more than one problem.

Sometimes we got more than one dilemma. You go

over a hill and there's another valley. But if

need be, we're going to make it through there

that the trial of our faith being much more precious

than of gold. What time is it? Huh? Twelve? That

we might be found under praise and honor and

glory at the appearing. There's the purpose.

It shows up again. At the appearing of Jesus

Christ. You know what, this declares a couple

of things. Trials come to help shape us. Like

the fire of a forge. You got to get steel hot

and pliable before you can shape it. And some

of us. Pretty stiff. Takes a little more heat.

Takes a little more heat. I watched that forged

in fire probably too much. And you can see. Those

blacksmith's faces, on their anvil, they'll have

a cloth covering up a piece of steel. And I've

learned some of the ones that they do not want

to fool with. When they pull that cloth off,

and there's this two -inch W2 ball bearing, their

faces just melt. Because they know it's going

to take twice as much heat. It's going to have

to stay in that forge at least two times longer

than spring steel. A leaf spring out from under

your car. And they just melt. But their steel

doesn't. Because they know it has to get really,

really hot. before they can ever begin to shape

it. That's you and I, some of us. Sometimes it

takes some intense heat in order for God to get

the shape in us that he wants to get. But if

we'll not bail out, he'll shape us. Amen? I'm

trying to get there. I'm trying to get to this

page. Understand the enemy's endeavor is to intimidate

in the valleys. I'm not going to go over them,

but there's at least seven different valleys

mentioned throughout Scripture. And the valley

of Elah is one of them. It's the valley where

fierce battles take place. It's where you meet

the giant of your life. It's where Goliath, your

Goliath. David met him there in the valley of

Elah. But he didn't just begrudgingly go into

the valley. Did he? If you read the story of

David and Goliath, you'll see that he hastened.

What's that mean? He ran. He ran to meet his

enemy, his Goliath, the giant of his life. He

ran to meet him head on. And as the enemy was

intimidating all the way down, you're just a

dog. They've sent me a dog. You've sent me a

boy. Who do you think I am? I'm the champion

of Philistia. And you send this. Boy, I'm going

to feed you. Before this day is over, the dogs

and the buzzards are going to pick your bones.

Come on, if you want some of this. David getting

madder by the minute. Because it was that giant

that was defying his God. Amen. He knew who Jehovah

was. He knows what the anointing is on his life.

And it just causes something to stir up in him.

And he started running. He said, no, it's going

to be you today. I'm taking your head today.

You don't even have a sword. I'm going to use

yours. I got all I need. I've got the anointing

that rests upon my life. I've got what I've proven

up to this day. I've taken the bear. I've taken

the lion and any and every other thing that threatened,

and you're going to be no different today because

the battle is not mine. The battle is the Lord's,

and he's going to give me the victory because

it belongs to him. I'm just coming to collect.

I'm just coming to collect. Somebody needs to

get enough audacity and get ready to go collect.

The intimidation works in a couple different

factors. One, he'll tell you, you can't. Secondly,

he'll tell you, God won't. And thirdly, he'll

say, God don't. You can't do it. God won't do

it. And he can't do it. Now, that's all he's

got. He can't do anything about whether God will

or whether God won't. He just says God won't,

don't, and you can't. And what does he know?

Stand to your feet. I'm going to quit. The devil

will try to tell you you can't get out of your

valley. He'll try to tell you you're never getting

out. He's going to try to tell you that God doesn't

care because you're there. But I'm here to tell

you he's the God of the low places. If I would

have kept preaching, I would have got to the

point where I would have finally got around to

telling you the rest of the story. About the

Syrians. When a man of God showed up. And began

to prophesy. Hey look. They made God mad. Thus.

When the man showed up and said, thus saith the

Lord, it's done. Because they said he was only

the God of the hills. And that was the only reason

that we won. He's going to give you a great victory.

And he's going to show them that he's God in

the low places too. It's a beautiful story. Go

read the rest of it. They encamped. They went

down to the valley where they wanted to fight.

Scripture says that they were in two camps, the

children of Israel in two camps, and they looked

like a herd of kids, which are baby goats. And

the Syrians. We're a multitude. But God showed

up and in one day they took out a hundred and

something thousand. Then the bunch that left

and ran off into the city ran up against the

wall and the wall fell on 27 ,000 of them. When

the word of the Lord shows up. It doesn't matter

about your valley. Because he's going to come

in the valley where you're at to let you know,

I'm God down here too. When the enemy says you're

not going to be blessed, when the enemy says

you're not going to grow old, when the enemy

says you're not going to make it, when he looks

and tries to speak against the church and says,

you'll never have revival. The word of the Lord

says, I'll give unto you the keys to the kingdom

of heaven. That's what the word says. And whatsoever

you bind on earth. Man, I was using this one

last night. Be bound in heaven. Whatsoever you

loose, it's going to be loosed. Amen? It's going

to be set free. God's on your side. It declares

it over our lives. His word proclaims to us,

upon this rock, I'll build my church. And the

gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I

don't know if you get the full grasp of it or

not, but you and I are lively stones which build

up a spiritual house. That's us. You and I, we're

the church. Not this building, not any other

building in this city, town. No other building.

You and I. And the gates of hell shall not prevail

against it. I will build my church. He's building

on you and I. He's building on us. He's the God

of your low place. Father, I love you this morning.

I thank you so much for your goodness and grace.

I thank you so much for your anointing and helping

me preach this morning for I sure have felt you

and your anointing. So God, I ask now over the

household of faith. That you empower your people.

And remind us that you're God in the low place.

Quickly this morning, if you're in a low place

and you've been reminded this morning, I want

to pray over you. I want you to just come down

to the front real quick. You're in a low place

in life. You're in a valley. He's God of the

low places. Come on. Doubt, despair, discouraged.

He's still God. He wants you to know this morning

that in your low place, he's going to show up.