God of the Valleys

How easy it is to believe the enemy when he comes in like a flood, and we feel like we are drowning with no way out. Why is it so easy? Reason #1: Because, we fail to recognize the deluge as being from the enemy, #2: Because we are so overwhelmed by what ever is being used to choke the life out of us, that we don't have the time to do anything, find any answers, reach for life savers, we are sinking, drowning, barely breathing. #3, Because our senses are agreeing: What we are seeing and experiencing is to us "reality." What we can touch and hear agrees...Our circumstances look like evidence.



Israel had been driven into the valley by the enemy. They were terrified. From where the enemy stood, a top the mountain, the view into the valley was clear and unobstructed ,but the view from down below looking up wasn't quite so clear. In fact, the Israelites knew that they were sitting ducks! From atop the mountain the enemy could almost invisibly watch those below and at any time rain down weapons of terror and destruction upon the sitting ducks! The Israelites were trapped and they were choking with fear!


And then came the word of the Lord saying, "Don't worry, the enemy has said ...Let us drive the Israelites into the valley because their God is not a God of the valleys, he is only a God of the mountain tops! There we shall surely defeat them for their God will not be with them." So the Lord said "I have allowed this to happen to show them that your God is a God of the Mountains and the valleys"


The truth is , at this point, Israel had only four men with weapons total. In fact, just a chapter or two before this battle ensued, just two of these men who owned weapons, Jonathan, along with his armor bearer, on foot, defeated 20 enemy soldiers themselves and God sent a holy panic over the entire army of the enemy, causing them to turn and fight each other, killing off their own men!

Not the God of the Underdog, they thought?

God doesn't need the right circumstances to work, arrive, show up, move on, in, under or around!

You might be in the valley for this season my friend, but I'm here to tell you today, "Look above the mountain, where your help comes from, Your help comes from the Lord!" Oh yes, your God, He is a God of the "valleys" not just the mountain tops. **The enemy of your soul is hoping you will believe that he is all powerful, especially when he gets you on the run or down in the dumps. He wants to look at your circumstances and surmise that they are larger than God, that they are wider, deeper and taller and far too fierce to overcome!

Isa 59:1 - Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. God is our refuge. A very present help in times of trouble. Eph 8--"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty (Super-naturally Powerful) througn God, to the pulling down of strong holds, casting out imaginations and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of God! "

If you've been of the persuasion that God does not allow his saints to be tried or pursued by the enemy, then you must have missed 9/10th's of the bible! From the garden to the desert, from the promise land to the cross through Revelations, God's people have always been pursued by the enemy! This is not new news! The enemy sends in evil, designed and assigned to produce fear and retreat in the believer to our ultimate destruction. God sends ambushes, angels, hope and deliverance in the face of all odds.

You can make it through a "valley experience." The battle is ultimately fought in your spirit through your mind. One way to fool proof your mind for a valley experience is to set your mind before hand. Know God's ways, his power and characteristics before the enemy strikes. If you believe the lie that God never allows believers to be tested or tried, you will be shell-shocked for sure at the first sign of enemy attack! Take a look at the biblical battles. That which can be shaken , will, the word says. In the peaceful times, make sure you know on which ground you stand and under whose covering you camp.

So, "When the enemy comes in like a flood," God says "He will raise up a standard"..This translated means...God will raise up a banner that will fly over your camp that tells the armies of the Lord: "These are my people, I come to their defence. The colors beckon, "Come fight here! The enemy is attacking and this is our post! come fight and defend over here!!! Heavenly hosts (armies) ...over here! Saints: Over here! Prayer warriors: Over here! Armor bearers: Over here!"

The banner also sends the enemy a message...Telling the enemy whose Lord you serve... Attila the Hun's banner was a fierce one, not to be reckoned with. Alexander the great conquered the known world. Evoking fear in any one who merely caught sight of his colors coming toward them.

Imagine those who have known and seen from the beginning of time, God's terrible power. Spawning awe from the dawn of creation to this present day. Those proponents of Satan who were cast out of heaven by god's mighty hand. What they must feel about the Lords banner.

The bible says, the enemy knows who the Lord is and trembles at the very mention of His name.

The enemy knows the power of the Lord. DO YOU?