Part of 2022 Q4 God With UsChristmas

December 4, 2022

God allows us to be in the valleys of unwanted emotions.

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel” —Matthew 1:18-23

A word from God can bring hope to our valleys.

25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad. —Proverbs 12:25 ESV25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression,
But a good word makes it glad. —Proverbs 12:25 NKJV11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me? —Psalm 42:11a4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.The Lord Speaks to Elijah
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” —1 Kings 19:4-91 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago. —Lamentations 3:1-6“Why did I not die at birth,
come out from the womb and expire? —Job 3:1116 Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child,
as infants who never see the light? —Job 3:1615 Terrors are turned upon me;
my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 The night racks my bones,
and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. —Job 30:15-17

Trust God in the valleys, knowing He’s the God of the hills as well.

Takeaway - Our valleys are low points between two hills

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. —Psalm 23:45 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,but joy comes with the morning. —Psalm 30:5