God of the Hills and God of the Valleys
1 Kings 20:28
And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Have you ever gone into a church service and the Lord reinforces something He’s been speaking to you about in your personal time? Not only does He reinforce it, He starts squeezing on your heart until it overflows through the portals of your soul? Now, it’s a very rare occasion that I come out of a church service where it feels as though that sermon wasn’t for me. However, it’s equally rare that I come out of service that God squeezes my heart so that it overflows from my eyes. That has happened to me recently, not in just one service but in two consecutive services and a few since.
I’d been reading about Ahab in my personal reading time. Now, most of you know, he was one of, it not THE most, wicked kings to rule Israel. Yet, I find a curiosity in 1 Kings 20. There is a time that God blesses Ahab. Now, as I study this, I realize this was not for the purpose of blessing Ahab but rather to give Ahab one more time to witness the grace and mercy of the God of Israel. Whenever God extends His grace and mercy to us, He wants us to acknowledge that.
It is during this period of extended grace and mercy, that the Syrian army surrounds Samaria. Now, the Syrian army was no small army. In fact, the Lord tells Ahab through an unnamed prophet… “Hast thou seen all this great multitude?” Think about that… why would the Lord point out to Ahab that he was surrounded by a HUGE army? Wouldn’t Ahab have that figured out? Maybe… maybe not. If he did have it figured out, do you think he would be wondering how he was going to get out of this one? He knew he wasn’t in God’s good graces and the gods he’d been serving all his life weren’t really known for bailing Israel out of difficult places…. Particularly with Ahab as king.
But God said yes, they’re there…. They’re in the surrounding hills…that’s what’s making it so difficult for you to know exactly how many there are. God was telling Ahab, “I know there’s going to be a battle. I know who the enemy is. I know how great a multitude the enemy brings with them. I have a plan to deliver Israel from them but not just for the sake of delivering them but that you and all of Israel will know that I am the Lord.”
Ahab questions God… How? What’s the plan? Long story short, God delivers them among the hills. Whew! That was a close one. However, the prophet returns and says, "there's no time to relax… They’ll be back! Get prepared!" Sure enough, they came back… but the Syrians had surmised that the only reason Israel won the last battle was that their God was only a god of the hills. Therefore, they planned to draw them out into the plains and valleys to fight them there. This was a David and Goliath situation. The Bible says that Israel looked like two small flocks of baby goats compared to the size and strength of Syria. The Syrians surely thought they had them now. They felt there was strength in numbers.
God said because the Syrians thought He was a god of limitations, He would deliver them into the hand of Israel so that Ahab would know that He is the Lord. Now, this was not just a master-type lord. This is the Jehovah God. The Great I AM God. The ALL-Sufficient God. The Lord is my banner God. The One who goes before us – God.
Ahab thought because they had won the battle in the hills, they could rest. You know, isn’t that often how we feel? We feel like when we’ve won a particularly difficult battle that we should be able to sit down and rest and take our ease? Yet, the prophet (our Pastor, in most cases) comes along and says, no, you must strengthen yourself because the enemy will be coming back and you must be prepared. As I read this, the song, “He’s the God of the Mountain, He’s the God of the Valleys”, kept going through my mind. Then I go to church on Sunday and our pastor teaches on a different subject but one sentence he said jumped out at me. He preached from the book of Mark when the disciples were in a boat in the middle of a storm and Jesus calms the wind and the waves. This is what Pastor said, when God brings the storms in our lives, He’s saying, “Focus on Me.”
That night, Pastor preached another sermon regarding king Asa; a righteous king for most of his life but one who got to the end of his life and forgot who God was. He’d been struck with an infirmity in his feet yet refused to turn to God as his Healer.
When God brings storms in our lives, battles in different fields, He wants us to remember Who He is. He wants us to remember He is the Healer. He wants us to remember it only takes His Word to calm the storm. He wants us to remember that He’s not only the God of the hills but He’s also God of the valleys.
Are you struggling right now? Do you wonder if God cares about your struggle? Or perhaps you know He cares but you’re tired of fighting the battles and you just want to sit back and rest? Can I be honest with you? The battles continue as long as we remain on this earth. There are Benhadads out there who want us to be frightened by their very size and strength. There are successes in our lives that threaten to take our focus off God. There are storms that threaten to overwhelm us….
Won’t you allow God to be the Lord, your Banner in the battle? Won’t you go to Him in your storm and allow Him to speak words of peace and calm at the waves that threaten to overwhelm you? Won’t you allow Him to show you that He is not only God of the hills, but God of the valleys also? He loves you and wants to walk with you or go before you as the case demands. Won’t you let Him today? Focus on Him... remember who God is and that Jesus Christ is God.
Molly Winter
Col. 1:9-10
My Comments: The Lord wants to be in control of all my life, all the time. That is so difficult for me. Often I’m just not sure I can trust Him with it all. Given that I haven’t done so well on my own, that really doesn’t make sense. I just need to yield, give it up, rest in Him.
1 Kings 20:28
And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Have you ever gone into a church service and the Lord reinforces something He’s been speaking to you about in your personal time? Not only does He reinforce it, He starts squeezing on your heart until it overflows through the portals of your soul? Now, it’s a very rare occasion that I come out of a church service where it feels as though that sermon wasn’t for me. However, it’s equally rare that I come out of service that God squeezes my heart so that it overflows from my eyes. That has happened to me recently, not in just one service but in two consecutive services and a few since.
I’d been reading about Ahab in my personal reading time. Now, most of you know, he was one of, it not THE most, wicked kings to rule Israel. Yet, I find a curiosity in 1 Kings 20. There is a time that God blesses Ahab. Now, as I study this, I realize this was not for the purpose of blessing Ahab but rather to give Ahab one more time to witness the grace and mercy of the God of Israel. Whenever God extends His grace and mercy to us, He wants us to acknowledge that.
It is during this period of extended grace and mercy, that the Syrian army surrounds Samaria. Now, the Syrian army was no small army. In fact, the Lord tells Ahab through an unnamed prophet… “Hast thou seen all this great multitude?” Think about that… why would the Lord point out to Ahab that he was surrounded by a HUGE army? Wouldn’t Ahab have that figured out? Maybe… maybe not. If he did have it figured out, do you think he would be wondering how he was going to get out of this one? He knew he wasn’t in God’s good graces and the gods he’d been serving all his life weren’t really known for bailing Israel out of difficult places…. Particularly with Ahab as king.
But God said yes, they’re there…. They’re in the surrounding hills…that’s what’s making it so difficult for you to know exactly how many there are. God was telling Ahab, “I know there’s going to be a battle. I know who the enemy is. I know how great a multitude the enemy brings with them. I have a plan to deliver Israel from them but not just for the sake of delivering them but that you and all of Israel will know that I am the Lord.”
Ahab questions God… How? What’s the plan? Long story short, God delivers them among the hills. Whew! That was a close one. However, the prophet returns and says, "there's no time to relax… They’ll be back! Get prepared!" Sure enough, they came back… but the Syrians had surmised that the only reason Israel won the last battle was that their God was only a god of the hills. Therefore, they planned to draw them out into the plains and valleys to fight them there. This was a David and Goliath situation. The Bible says that Israel looked like two small flocks of baby goats compared to the size and strength of Syria. The Syrians surely thought they had them now. They felt there was strength in numbers.
God said because the Syrians thought He was a god of limitations, He would deliver them into the hand of Israel so that Ahab would know that He is the Lord. Now, this was not just a master-type lord. This is the Jehovah God. The Great I AM God. The ALL-Sufficient God. The Lord is my banner God. The One who goes before us – God.
Ahab thought because they had won the battle in the hills, they could rest. You know, isn’t that often how we feel? We feel like when we’ve won a particularly difficult battle that we should be able to sit down and rest and take our ease? Yet, the prophet (our Pastor, in most cases) comes along and says, no, you must strengthen yourself because the enemy will be coming back and you must be prepared. As I read this, the song, “He’s the God of the Mountain, He’s the God of the Valleys”, kept going through my mind. Then I go to church on Sunday and our pastor teaches on a different subject but one sentence he said jumped out at me. He preached from the book of Mark when the disciples were in a boat in the middle of a storm and Jesus calms the wind and the waves. This is what Pastor said, when God brings the storms in our lives, He’s saying, “Focus on Me.”
That night, Pastor preached another sermon regarding king Asa; a righteous king for most of his life but one who got to the end of his life and forgot who God was. He’d been struck with an infirmity in his feet yet refused to turn to God as his Healer.
When God brings storms in our lives, battles in different fields, He wants us to remember Who He is. He wants us to remember He is the Healer. He wants us to remember it only takes His Word to calm the storm. He wants us to remember that He’s not only the God of the hills but He’s also God of the valleys.
Are you struggling right now? Do you wonder if God cares about your struggle? Or perhaps you know He cares but you’re tired of fighting the battles and you just want to sit back and rest? Can I be honest with you? The battles continue as long as we remain on this earth. There are Benhadads out there who want us to be frightened by their very size and strength. There are successes in our lives that threaten to take our focus off God. There are storms that threaten to overwhelm us….
Won’t you allow God to be the Lord, your Banner in the battle? Won’t you go to Him in your storm and allow Him to speak words of peace and calm at the waves that threaten to overwhelm you? Won’t you allow Him to show you that He is not only God of the hills, but God of the valleys also? He loves you and wants to walk with you or go before you as the case demands. Won’t you let Him today? Focus on Him... remember who God is and that Jesus Christ is God.
Molly Winter
Col. 1:9-10
My Comments: The Lord wants to be in control of all my life, all the time. That is so difficult for me. Often I’m just not sure I can trust Him with it all. Given that I haven’t done so well on my own, that really doesn’t make sense. I just need to yield, give it up, rest in Him.
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