Down In The Valley

T

he Christian life is filled with mountain-top and valley experiences, both of which are necessary, and both of which have their purposes.  The mountain-top experience gives us a sense of accomplishment and affirms our faith. However, the valley experience tests and grows our faith.  Let's look now at one of the best examples of how the valley is where God chooses to do His greatest work.  Let's look at a tiny, little man named David.

Our study centers on a small and often over looked portion of scripture.  1 Samuel 17:3 sets the scene for us. "The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites occupied another, with the valley in between them." Notice the positions of these two armies.  They are on the tops of two hills and there below, between them, is the valley.  Every day Goliath, the giant, would come out and taunt the Israelites to send just one man to fight against him.  Every day the Israelites gathered for battle and sounded the war cry but sent no one into the valley.

Is this not the picture of so many of us?  We confront an overwhelming set of circumstances and when we are asked how we are doing, we put on a big show.  We sound the war cry and get ready for battle, but we never enter the valley.  The Israelites had been there for forty days without responding to Goliath's challenge.  They were stuck, prevented by their own unwillingness to move forward.  You might say there were all dressed up with no place to go.

Enter David, this ruddy boy who was not accustomed to armor or armies.  All he knew was the tending of sheep!  But David had spent most of his time in valleys and was no stranger to them.  No wonder he was stupefied by the apparent lack of motivation on the part of the Israelite army.  After all, they were God's chosen people and He would fight the battle for them.  We see David's resolve in his response to Goliath in verses 45 and following "...I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied.  This day the Lord will hand you over to me...and the whole world will know there is a God in Israel."

David made this statement not from the safety of the hilltop but from the floor of the valley.  If we are ever to experience victory in the valley, we must go down into it.  Unless we follow David's lead, we will be like the Israelite army, on the hillside, looking out over what could be ours, but never daring to go and claim it.  Notice that because of their lack of faith, they could not move forward. 

We do not go into the valley alone.  David went in the name of Lord Almighty and that is just what we must do.  The valley is no match for us by ourselves, but it is nothing when we walk through it with God.  David won the victory, not because he was braver than the other soldiers, he wasn’t.  He won it because he had more faith than the other soldiers.  It is in the valley that we are tested, stretched, and molded.  But it is also IN the valley, that certain victory awaits us.  Forward march!!