God is still God

(Rarely do I do two lessons based on a song but this week a friend posted this song on FB and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind, so I believe this is God’s lesson for us this week!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?hcYDcLiiXmU



God is Still God by Heather Williams

Wish I knew what I'm supposed to say to you
What you're going through
But I don't know what you're feeling
Does anyone know what you're feeling right now

You're afraid
The future's like an enemy,
and you just wish you could see
Cause you don't know where you're going
Don't let it keep you from hoping right now

Yeah we've all been lost and we've all been hurt
Where our hope is spent and our faith don't work
But nothing lasts forever
The only thing that matters
Is God is still God and He holds it together

So hang on now

He's been there, walking in the wilderness
When it's hard to see the end
But He had the strength to do it, so He can help you through it
So hang on now

So even when you lie awake
And bend until you almost break
The darkest time is right before the dawn


We should always be aware that our major adversary here on this earth is the devil. When we are enabled by the Lord to win a victory against him, you can count on him returning to fight another day. His desire is to see us defeated, one way or the other. If he doesn't win in one area of our life, he will change the direction of his attack and come at us again. The Bible says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”. 1 Pet. 5:8.

We need to understand that no matter the battle we face, you and I can walk in victory with God’s help! There are some simple truths that show us that God Is Still God, even In the valleys of life.

You see, when we are on the "mountain" spiritually, we are hard for the devil to handle. When we are walking around with a shout in our soul and glory in our hearts, we are a force to be reckoned with. It is hard for Satan to defeat an excited Christian. Maybe that is why Nehemiah said "the joy of the LORD is your strength." Neh. 8:10.

This is the situation Satan ran into with Job. He put the squeeze on Job expecting Job to turn on God. However, all the devil was able to extract from the life of Job was worship and praise. “The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!” (Job 1:21). If the devil squeezes you and all he gets is praise to God for His efforts, he is likely to stop squeezing after a while!

A story goes that it was advertised that the devil was going to put his tools up for sale. On the date of the sale the tools were placed for public inspection, each being marked with its sale price. There were a treacherous lot of implements. Hatred, Envy, Jealousy, Doubt, Lying, Pride, and so on. Laid apart from the rest of the pile was a harmless-looking tool, well-worn and priced very high. "What is the name of that tool?" asked one of the purchasers. "Oh," said the adversary, "that's Discouragement." Buyer: "Why have you priced it so high?" Satan: "Because it's more useful to me than the others. I can pry open and get inside a person's heart with that one, when I cannot get near him with other tools. Now once I get inside, I can make him do what I choose. It's a really worn tool, because I use it on almost everyone since few people know it belongs to me."

The devil's price for Discouragement was so high, he never sold it. It's still his major tool, and he still uses it on God's people today.

It has been said that "Discouragement is the handle that fits all the devil's tools." The idea here is that Satan knows that when we are on the mountain, we are hard to get at. Therefore, he assumes that if he can get us in the valley, we will be easier to defeat. Sadly, he has been right in many, many cases. If the devil can get you to focus on the negative aspects of any situation, he can get you discouraged. If he can get you discouraged, he can get you defeated. If he can get you defeated, he can steal the victory of the Lord right out of our heart.

As the saying goes: Life is 10% about what happens to us and 90% about we react to what happens to us! If you develop a "woe is me" attitude concerning the events of life, then you are going to be easy prey for the devil. If, however, you can learn to put into practice the lessons of Philippians 4:6-9. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything……… His peace will guard your hearts and minds……….. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable…….. Then the God of peace will be with you”

Has the devil tried this trap in your life? Has he used the tool of discouragement on you? I know he has on me and, not to give him any credit, but discouragement works better on me than any other tactic the devil can try. If he can just get us off that mountain top, we will be easier for him to handle!

God is going to prove Himself to be God of the valley as well as God of the mountain. He assures His people of victory!

We need to remember that God is bigger than our valley. It is easier to serve the Lord when we are on the spiritual mountain top. It is easier when we are excited about the Lord and about His work. However, when we go into one of the valley experiences of life, God is still God! When we enter the valley of physical pain, God is still God! When we enter the valley of spiritual discouragement, God is still God. When we enter the valley of sorrow or mental pain, God is still God. Regardless of the valley we are forced to enter, we will find out that God is still God!
You see, God wants to demonstrate to His people that He is God in every stage of life. He wants to be able to demonstrate His power in our life. He wants to show us that He is still God. That is why the Bible is literally filled with promises that teach us that God is in control.

Verses like Rom. 8:28: And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them; 1 Cor. 15:57: “But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 2:14: But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. 2 Cor. 4:17: For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! and others let us know that our God is determined to prove to us that He is God in every circumstance that we face.

For us, victory begins to be realized when we come to understand that Satan wants us to be defeated, but that God has promised we can walk in the victory in spite of our circumstances. When everything around us suggests that we should be discouraged and defeated, God still says that we have the victory. Paul writes in Rom. 8:37, “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”In the final analysis, genuine spiritual victory is never a matter of that what we are facing in life. Genuine spiritual victory is simple faith in the promises of God. We will be victorious, not because everything is perfect in our life, we are victorious when God is in control of our life and He says that we are victorious.

When we understand that God is sill God. Therefore, regardless of the situation, we can rest in the promise of God. The battle may raging around us, but it does not have to rage within us! While we may be in the battle, God has already won the war and we are victorious because He said so!

More than anything else, the path out of the valley begins with the ability to surrender to God in every circumstance.

There is no way of knowing what all of you are facing this today. It may be that the devil has and is using the tool of discouragement in your life. It may be that you feel defeated and a million miles away from the mountain top. Let me just remind you one more time that God is God when you are on the mountain and that God is still God when you are down in the valley. The secret to enjoying the mountains and the valleys is learning that God is in control. If you can do that, then whether you are on top or on bottom, you will always be on the mountain in your heart and victory will always be yours. You get there and you'll be a hard nut for the devil to crack.

The first step in arriving at that place is learning to bring your burdens to Jesus.
Do you have a burden too big to bear? Why not take a few moments to tell Jesus about it. Take your burden to the Lord, then leave it there by faith. We will close with this scripture: “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7. (Some of you may remember that I have carried this scripture in my wallet since 1991 and notice that is “framed” and hanging on our SS wall!) After all, God is still God, even in the valley!