Written by: Chassidy Leonard
Scripture Passage: 1 Samuel 17
The Israelites stood on one mountain, while their victory stood across from them on the next. But what stood in between? The Valley of Elah. To get the victory, they would have to face the valley. Taunting came from within the valley, causing great fear for the Israelites. They knew what had to be done, but they delayed in fright. Slowly, they began to send out soldiers to fight the small battles they felt sure they could conquer. But when signs of danger greater than their own strength appeared, they fled. It wasn’t until an Israelite was willing to face the valley- and the giant within- head on with total dependance on the Lord to get them through that the victory was able to be won.
Many times the Christian life is like this account. We try to take the next step in our faith, whether that be: drawing closer to God, surrendering an area to God, repenting of a sin that binds us, etc. We fall short time and time again. Why? Because we have the false narrative that because we are doing a good thing, it should be easier. This is not always so, matter of fact, it’s more often not. I’m sure you’ve heard it said that if doing the right thing were easy, everyone would do it. Often, what stands between us and victory in that area is a valley. We set out to overcome this “thing” and at first, it goes well. We face a few hiccups, but feel strong enough to handle them. This builds a little confidence that it won’t be so bad after all. Before long, we come face to face with our giant. It seems far too big with no way around. So what do we do? Retreat. But what we fail to recognize is that each time we retreat to the edge of the valley, we lose all the ground we had previously covered. We then have to decide to step back in the valley and face it all again. It is not until we place our faith in Christ and depend on His strength (rather than our own) that we will make it through the valley to the mountain of victory. The sad truth is that so often we live in a continuous cycle of enter -> retreat, never achieving what Christ intended for us all along.
What is “that thing” that the Lord has been dealing with you about? Do you stand on the edge of the valley in fear? Have you ever entered the valley only to retreat? Are you currently in the valley? Let’s make the decision to place our faith in God and persevere through the valley knowing He will see us through. Purpose that you will not look back a week from now, a month from now, a year from now and still be standing on the edge.