The Valley of Victory

UV 2272/10000 Valley of Victory
For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.
2 Kings 3 v 17

This uni-verse is a promise to the faithful children of the Lord. The Lord will cause rivers to flow in the wilderness and desert. He will cause springs to rise in the dry lands or areas of our lives as we look to Him in faith even as Elisha, the prophet looked to the Lord. The three kings of Israel, Judah and Edom had marched with their armies against Moab for seven days and were trapped in a dry and wild area with no water in sight for their armies and animals. Jehoshaphat then recalled the successor of Elijah, Elisha the prophet. Elisha called for the minstrel to play worshipful music. The Lord then gave this uni-verse as a revelation. It encouraged the hearts of the crestfallen kings and armies. It quenched the parched throats of their armies and re-invigorated them to take up the fight against the Moabites. It was a sign that victory was theirs. The Lord had done the supernatural again by providing water in abundance without a sign of wind or clouds or rain.

Our valleys or the low points in our lives will become sources of much unimagined blessings. The Lord will use these “valley times” in our lives to increase our faith as we keep praising and thanking Him like Elisha’s minstrel. The water or the answers and solutions the Lord provides for us in our difficult times will greatly strengthen our faith and enable us to overcome our foes and spiritual enemies. The underlying message is that as we hold onto our faith in Jesus, nothing is unreasonable, unimaginable or impossible for us. We have no cause for despair, hopelessness, frustration, fear or anxiety as long as we have the Lord with us. God does not need any ingredients to put us on the gradient of victory. Instead of despairing, we should rejoice that we are about to experience the supernatural, what eye has not seen or ear has not heard. For a person of faith, every dry valley has potential to put him on a new plane of spiritual challenge, elevation, growth and experience. The Lord uses our ‘low points’ to experience the high points of His power, grace and mercy.

It is not our armies or our resources, our strength, our abilities, talents, our opportunities, our connections, our wisdom, our brilliance that gives us victory. True, the Lord can use these but it is the Lord’s word and will that gives us hope in abnormal times, in times of imminent disaster, in times of overwhelming odds against us. We might worry sometimes that our current level of income and finances are not sufficient to meet our needs. This uni-verse reassures us that even if there seems no sign of a financial or professional breakthrough, the Lord will ensure that there is enough and more water in our wells. Like Jehoshaphat sought to find the Lord’s word and will in a given strategic situation, we should seek His word and will. When we look back at our lives, we find that it is in our dry valley times that we are closest and full of faith in the grace, mercy, faithfulness and power of the Lord. Physically, factually, empirically, scientifically, there may be no sign of deliverance. Yet, as long as we hold onto our belief in these dry valley times, He will give us relief. His presence with us is worth far more than all the finances, food, water, comforts, assurances of this world.

Prateep V Philip