THE GOD OF THE VALLEYS

1 Kings 20:28 The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, "This is what the LORD says: 'Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.'"
 

People who don't know God (and even some who do) tend to think that God is the God of the mountain-top experience and not the God of the valleys. Those who really know God and understand His character, know that God is the God of the mountains, the valleys, and everything in between.

It's easy to be happy and praise God when things are seemingly going well, but it gets a bit more difficult when 'bad' things are happening; when we're in a fight for our lives, when we're grieving, when we're just down.

And it is especially hard to be happy and praise God when we are sick, disabled, or in prison.

BUT THAT'S THE TIME WE MOST NEED TO PRAISE GOD! THAT'S THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND HE IS JUST AS CLOSE AS HE WAS WHEN THINGS WERE GOING WELL.

And the people around us need to understand that too. Often, people judge our spirituality by whether we appear to be “doing well” or not. How absurd. First of all, do we really KNOW what doing well means? What success is? If you are close to God---if you’re family is following Him, that’s success. If you are obedient to God and loving Him no matter what, that’s doing well!

The Arameans of Ancient times lost the battle because they thought that God was only the God of the hills and mountains. Israel WON the battle because they knew that God was everywhere and in every circumstance.

HOW ABOUT YOU? Are you in a valley or a mountain? Wherever you are and whatever you are experiencing---GOD IS THERE!