the low places...

~ August 2 1995, unsure if I would live or die, God gave me 2 Chronicles 20:26 about the Valley of Berachah, the Valley of Praise. His promise to me was that the attack I was facing would lead to great spoils.. and that he would teach me to praise even in the valley as he brought great victory.

June 29, 2013, today, wanting to live but wanting to die for a broken heart, God gave me Psalm 84:6 about... the Valley of Baca, the Valley of Weeping. His promise to me was that this attack would lead to a great outpouring of the Spirit of God.. and that he would teach me to praise as he leads me from strength to strength.. once again in the valley.. once again moving forward to good things.

Some ppl get to live their lives on the mountain top.. it would seem that I am called to the Valleys and the low places.. which is just fine with me, as long as my God remains with me.


~ Last Sunday God offered me a deal after I petitioned him about some things..

"Tho you don't have understanding how you will bear the pain,
Trust that the Lord will bring it.
He will reveal the answer, make it bearable, take away the sting,
After you take a stand."

In this message today, so much applied to so many things.. especially when he spoke of standing in that place of barrenness and prais...ing God despite it all..

"the shout of joy before the answer comes..
(praising him) just because he is good..
(praising him) just because he is."

It is just remarkable to me how the things he spoke in that message are so similar, almost word for word to things the Lord and I spoke about in worship just last week.

the place of strength is..
in the valleys of life for some reason..
the valley of praise as well as the valley of weeping.

Also brings to mind what Pastor Paul shared that same Sunday (also teaching on Joy, ironically)..

"There is a connection between ppl that comes only through pain.. acquainted with his sufferings.. causes a person to walk close to Jesus."


~ Sometimes, for some reason known only to God.. we are required to endure a long journey to our healing.. somehow, living with an incurable disease and all the pain associated with it.. leaves a trail of blessing in your life that God multiples in the lives of others.. somehow, walking out your brokenness from strength to strength over a great distance in this life.. allows your sufferings to nurture and empower others along the way.. I don't know how it works.. I don't know why healing is sometimes immediate and sometimes a very long process.. I just know that God is good and is working all things for our good.. the answers will come in his timing.

His grace is sufficient now and forever.


~ It's common knowledge that the best way to learn is by doing.. and the best way to teach is by example.. maybe that is the purpose of the valleys.. so that we are fit to learn from God and equipped to teach others of his love despite the pain we walk thru on this earth...

Are you up for the challenge, the journey?

Alot of ppl say they want that intimacy with Christ, and yet, they refuse to embra...ce the valleys of life, they refuse to share in his sufferings in the earth. He will cover you and provide all that you need to make the journey bearable, but climbing up on that cross and dying to all the world has to offer, dying to ur rights and ur perks so that others might live to know the savior... its the only way.

You don't have to go around looking for it.. trust me, it will come to you.. and when it does you will have a choice to make.. the deal hell offers, or the one God holds out to you with scarred up hands.

The valley can be a beautiful place when you walk it with God,
the blackest ash is transformed in the beauty of his presence