DIGGING HOLES IN THE VALLEY

Psalm 84 is one of the songs of Zion. This psalm rejoices in the presence of God, the manifest presence of God in the Tabernacle. Anyone who reads what the Lord gives me will know that He has continually put “His Presence,” on my heart. The Lord has showed me that His remnant people, His church on earth is arising and that they are simply a people who seek His presence and seek to follow Him with their whole heart. They will go down the narrow path and they will stay on the narrow path no matter what happens because their heart is set on pilgrimage.

Gifts are important, signs and wonders are important, miracles are important, but so is balance. There are many paths before the true believers. Our search is the search for the narrow path. We must find the narrow path and keep to it. If we have gone down the wrong path, then to continue to go down that path only takes us further away from the Lord. Now, the motivation to go down a certain path can be good, it can be genuine, but if it is the wrong path it is the wrong path.

I have a GPS system in my car. Its awesome. As a directionally challenged Real Estate agent it has been such a blessing to me. I simply follow the blue line and I inevitably end up at my destination. Yet even with this system, you can take wrong turns and the system will automatically “recalculate,” and give you new directions to get you back on track. This almost always involves “taking the next exit,” and doing a “u-turn.” Sometimes when you take the wrong road, but it runs near to or initially parallel with the correct road, the system still believes you to be on the right road. As the wrong road slowly veers away from the correct road, the system finally figures it out.

Chritendom has taken the wrong road. Initially it runs almost parallel to the correct road and , without discernment, is almost impossible to know that you are on the wrong path. Most will simply plow ahead down the road directed and its at a point of getting lost that the person realizes that they have went astray. When Amelia Earheart attempted her epic flight, it is reckoned that she only had to be a tiny fraction off in her calculations to miss the Island that she was aiming for by hundreds of miles. To continue flying and being slightly of course, would take her ever further away from her destination.

Today, Christendom is moving further and further away from its destination. When the destination ceases to be God Himself, and the destination becomes something other than His presence, His Tabernacle, His alter, His throne room, then we simply get further and further away from Him and the narrow path that leads to Him. Only by getting of at the “next exit,” and doing a “u-turn,” can we get back on the narrow path. If you do not have a GPS system, here are the road signs that you must see to know that you are on the right path, the narrow path. It is of vital importance that you see this first sign. The sign will read……

1. How lovely is your Tabernacle O Lord of Hosts. My soul longs for you, yes, even faints for the courts of my Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. If this is not the first sign that you see, you are on the wrong path. Your desire for gifts, your desire to be healed, your desperation to be saved from a particular circumstance, or set of circumstances will not lead you to the narrow path.The second road sign that you will see, once you see the first is ………..

2. You are now entering the courts and the alter of the Lord.

Perhaps you have heard or been told that only special people can enter into the most Holy place, into the manifest presence of God. Only the “anointed,” hear from God. Only the Prophet or Apostle , the Evangelist, Pastors or teacher are privy to the things of the Lord. This is a heresy. Every single member of the Body of Christ is an active member and has gifts. The heresy that only one man or a small group of men are “special,” or that God respects them more and tells them mysteries that no one else knows, is just another form of Gnosticism. This has led to the vast majority of “Priests,” sitting as spectators, watch and listening to one man or a small group of men. It has also led to the demise of words of knowledge from the congregation, speaking in tongues and interpret ion of these tongues. Exhortations have all but dried up. What used to be normative in a typical Pentecostal church has now become a rarity. We now sit, entertained by the speaker and the worship, but we are not active participants and this has led to the sickness we now see in the Body because one or two parts seek to be the whole.

So, who can be used? Who can come into the very throne room of God? Who can approach the alters, the throne of God and stand in His manifest presence? “Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. Even your alters oh Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, they will still be praising you.”The sparrow and the swallow brothers and sisters, the “least,” of us are used of God. We are ushered into His presence, He is no respecter of persons. The modern day church, in the age of “personality,” has effectively shut this down. The Prophets, the Apostles, the Evangelist, the Pastors and the teachers have been shut out by the “personality.” The next sign will be ………

3. You are now entering the Valley of Baca, or the Valley of Weeping. All those whose heart is set on pilgrimage please continue.

The road to the alter, the tabernacle, traverses many valleys. Some are narrow some are deep . There is no avoiding them. You will shed tears in these valleys. You will often times feel abandoned in these valleys. What should you do as you travel through these valleys? Dig deeper. Dig holes in these valleys brothers and sisters. These valleys are without rain and it would seem to many that they will surely die as they go through it. You will not die. So why should you stop and dig holes in this valley. Why not rush through as quickly as possible? The truth is, this valley cannot be rushed. No matter how much you run, to the left or the right, you have to go through the valley. Even if you run straight ahead, the valley will last exactly how long it is supposed to last. So, when you stop in the midst of it, when you resist the urge to panic and fear, when you embrace the fact that this valley has to be gone through, these “dark nights of the soul,” will become an oasis and a place of refreshment to those who have faith and continue to trust in the Lord. You will not be tempted more than you are able. The Lord has not abandoned you. He will minister to you.

When you dig deeper, you are emptying yourself in preparation to receive the Lords presence. He will come to you on your journey, on your pilgrimage , in your deepest valleys. And to those who dig, their holes will be filled abundantly when the flash flood of His rain comes. The steeper the valley, the bigger the flood. The holes ensure that when the flood ends, their will be pools of water left over that will not only minister to you, but will comfort and encourage those who come along behind you, for remember, there is only one path, the narrow one, and all must traverse it.

“As they go through the Valley of Weeping, they make it a spring, the rain also covers it with pools, they go from strength to strength, each one appears before God in Zion.”

So brothers and sisters, I encourage you to find the narrow path that leads to His presence. The irony is that those who chase signs and wonders and miracles and so on, those who put the cart before the horse, never see them. In the end, it all becomes hype with the “personality,” culture. So what is the true treasure of the Lord, what should we pursue? Perhaps the Psalmist says it best ……………………….

“For one day in your courts is better than a thousand, I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a Sun and a shield, the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Blessed is the man who trusts in you.”

If you have not experienced the presence of God, if it has been a long time since you have experienced the presence of God, perhaps you should check the road signs, make sure you have not taken a wrong turn and that the road you are on is not taking you further and further away from the Lord and the simplicity of the Gospel. I would rather hear one word, in a moment of silence, from my God, than a thousand good sermons.