DECISIONS MADE IN THE VALLEY
Joel 3:10, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision."
If you were to read the entirety of the third chapter of the Book of Joel, you would see very quickly, if you knew anything about end time eschatology, that the “valley of decision” refers to a place where the powers of the heathen Gentile nations, under the direction of the spirit of the antichrist, come for one final blow that they believe will forever eradicate the scourge of the nation of Israel and the Jews from the face of the earth. In fact, it is God who has put a hook into their jaw and brought them to this valley, also called the “Valley of Jehosaphat”, for one final great battle. We often refer to this battle as the “Battle of Armageddon”.
But I don’t want to talk about prophecy or the end time judgments to come even though those are vastly important subjects. I want us to look at what is happening in the valley of decision. The powers of darkness have brought mankind to his lowest point in history.
It wasn’t enough for the devil to kill the Son of God upon a cross.
It wasn’t enough for the Antichrist to persecute those who worshipped anything or anyone but his own image, hunting them down and slaughtering them like animals.
It wasn’t enough that mankind was on the brink of total annihilation of every living human being on the face of the earth.
Satan will never stop, never be satisfied and never stop doing all he can to utterly destroy everything that reminds him that he is not God.
Even though he is already a defeated foe, he never stops.
Even though he has been kicked out of Heaven, stifled and controlled in every effort to destroy God’s creation, and has had judgment pronounced upon him, Satan is still deluded and deceived by the pride in his own heart, and believes that he can still defeat God.
So, as a part of that all-out effort to destroy humanity, Satan’s goal is to bring each of us, individually, and collectively as the human race, into the valley of decision to see if he can trick us into following him and denying God.
Satan knows that if he can hit us at our lowest point, when our strength is gone, when we are totally discouraged and hope is waning – then he just might be able to steal one more soul from the Lord God of Heaven. Never forget that the devil is here to kill, steal and destroy. Don’t drop your guard or give place to the devil because he won’t stop with just a foot in the door. He wants the whole house.
All of humanity is in that valley of decision only because they have chosen to live in rebellion against the Father in Heaven.
From the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, the decision that mankind made, through Adam, to disobey God, has led us all into that same condition of rebellion against God. As a result, every one of us will face our own valleys of decision. Time and time again we are brought to the place where we are reminded that we are still living in a sinful world and that sin has effect on us, therefore we must either repent or know that judgment for our sin is surely coming.
God’s warnings are clearly visible to any who would open their eyes and behold them. No man will be able to stand before God and say, “I didn’t know what I was doing.” God sees the heart that won’t walk in faith before him. God knows your mind and he knows exactly why we do those things that are rebellious against him.
I know that there are those times when God allows us to go through the valley experiences in life to prove our faith and to test our commitment to him. But, I am also convinced that if we didn’t have a heart that was bent on rebellion in the first place, there would be no need for those valley experiences.
Most of the time, the valleys that we walk through in life, are valleys of our own making because we desire to walk in ways that are contrary to God’s will.
The point I want to make with this sermon is simply this:
When we are in the Valley of Decision, that’s not the time to make a decision to walk away from our only hope of coming out. We should never give in to our emotions, or our feelings, our doubts or our fears. In the Valley of Decision is where we should just hold on to God and walk by faith, not by sight. That’s the only way out of the valley.
When mankind enters into the Valley of Jehoshaphat on that fateful day it will become "the valley of decision", because that’s where God will pass his final judgment upon their rebellion against him. It will be the great and terrible day of the Lord, when Jesus Christ comes back to take vengeance on all who oppose righteousness.
What a terrible vengeance there will be! Revelation 14:20 describes the carnage of that day by saying that the blood of those who fight against Israel and against God will die by the multiplied thousands and that their blood will run as deep as the horse’s bridles for 1600 furlongs. It has been said that this is not a literal measurement but is an exaggerated example of the fierceness and universal death and destruction, when no man will escape the wrath of God. Regardless of whether is it literal or expressive, it’s still a powerful example.
But what kind of valleys of decision do we face in our own lives? How do we get there? And most importantly, what do we do when we are in the valley and how do we get out?
The valley of decision that we face may be a place where we become absolutely depressed over finances, over health problems, over habits that we can’t seem to break, over circumstances that are not going the way we would like them to, or any number of other reasons.
The fact is that there are only 3 types of people when it comes to the valley of decision. There are those who are about to go into that valley, those who are already in the valley trying to get out, and those who have just reached the top of the hill and are headed into the next valley.
God often allows the valley experience to come upon us for a reason.
Romans 1:17, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."
It’s only in the valley of decision that we grow in faith. It’s only in the valley where we can’t see our way out anymore, that we will finally surrender our will to God’s will and learn to put our total trust in him.
When we are in the valley of decision, we are always confronted with making a decision on what to do next. The problem is, that in the valley, we can’t see what is really going on around us. We often can’t feel, understand or see the hand of God operating to bring about our deliverance and there is nothing but confusion and closed doors in every direction.
If we are not careful to hold on to God we will make the wrong choices and that only drives us deeper into the valley.
It’s sad to say, but the vast majority of Christians, who decide to walk away from the church, from the Lord Jesus Christ and to go back into the world of sin, make that decision while they are in the valley. They don’t realize that, in the valley, is not the time to make the choice to leave God. He is their only hope, their only help, and they walk away, to face the devil on his own territory in their weakened spiritual condition. The end result of that valley decision is that they will backslide, falling back into their old lifestyle and following after those things that the world and the devil will put before them as an enticement. Satan promises the world but in the end, it’s not the world you get, it’s hell’s flames.
God will count that man as an unfaithful, unprofitable servant because the scripture says in Hebrews 10:38, "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."
In the valley of decision is not the time to decide to leave the Lord, bail out of the church and run back to the arms of that deceiving devil. It’s time to hold on to God and keep pressing forward, putting your faith in God to bring you out.
Robert H. Schuller gives this example in his book titled “Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!”
Schuller says, “I remember one winter my dad needed firewood, and he found a dead tree and sawed it down. In the spring, to his dismay, new shoots sprouted around the trunk. He said, "I thought sure it was dead. The leaves had all dropped in the wintertime. It was so cold that twigs snapped as if there were no life left in the old tree. But now I see that there was still life at the taproot." He looked at me and said, "Bob, don’t forget this important lesson. Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst mood. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come."
We all make wrong decisions, even in the best of times, but making decisions that are negative in the valley of decision is a dangerous thing to do. We can’t make intelligent choices because we can’t see the facts and reasons of our troubles. We can’t see what’s on the other side so we don’t know which way to turn. We can’t see the hand of God moving on our behalf. We can’t seem to touch Heaven with our prayers. We can’t see the way out because it’s hidden by our own doubts, fears and even un-repented sin.
Sometimes the best thing to do when you don’t know what to do is absolutely nothing. Just stand still and see what comes next. Give God a chance to bring you out. What have you got to lose by waiting upon the Lord.
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as an eagle. Do you remember those words from Isaiah 40:31? If we would only hold on to God, wait upon him, trust in him, and believe in Him we would mount up with wings. I believe if we “mount up with wings” that sooner or later we are going to come soaring out of the valley of decision and fly above all the clouds of doubt and fear into the clear light of God’s glory once again.
One writer by the name of David Russell says it this way, “The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.” That’s doubly true when you are in the low points of your life.
A number of people in the Bible made the wrong choice when they were in the valley of decision. Some were able to overcome but some just kept making the wrong choice until it cost them their lives and their very soul.
One of Israel’s king’s that made the wrong choices in the valley of decision was King Saul. He had been anointed by God to rule over Israel but through a series of events and failures he became a rejected King and David was anointed to take his throne.
Saul could have turned around at any point. He could have fallen on his face in repentance for his fear when he faced the Philistines and Goliath but he chose to run and hide. Saul could have been the hero of Israel and killed Goliath just as easily as David did if only he would have made the right choice and trusted God in that valley of decision.
He could have chosen to seek God’s face and obey God and he wouldn’t have arrived at the place where God would no longer hear his prayer. He could have fallen on his face in repentance and I believe that God would have forgiven him and given him peace in his kingdom. But, instead of repenting, Saul made the wrong decision to go seek out the Witch of Endor, bringing judgment upon his own life and family.
Another man who made the wrong choice in his valley of decision was Judas Iscariot. He entered into his valley as a result of his own greed for money and his distrust of Jesus. Judas could have turned back in repentance even after he had sold Jesus to be crucified. Don’t you believe that Jesus would have forgiven Judas if he had made the right decision to repent? It was not in God’s will for Judas to perish eternally.
But Judas kept on making the wrong choices. When he knew he had sinned, he was sorry but it was too late for him because he was convinced that there was no turning back so he committed suicide off the walls of the city. That was the last wrong decision he made and today he is living out his judgment in the flames of hell.
What about someone who was in the valley of decision but still came out victoriously? Just take a look at Peter. He was in a deep valley of depression, fear and doubt when Jesus was arrested. He even denied knowing the Lord 3 times.
When that rooster crowed, Peter had a decision to make. He was as low in the valley of decision as a man can go. What to do? Where to go? Who to turn to? Thank God Peter made the choice to hold on to God. He ran away and repented of his sin and later we find him on the mountaintop, spiritually speaking, as he preached the gospel and saw 3000 souls saved on the Day of Pentecost.
What about the Apostle Paul? Do you think that he had a few valley of decision experiences as well?
Listen to what he says and you make the call.
2 Corinthians 11:24-28, "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches."
Don’t you think that Paul, at some time during all of those times of trouble and distress, may have found himself in the valley of decision? But Paul kept on going, no matter what, right down to the end of his life and now listen to what he had to say!
2 Timothy 4:6-8, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
What made the difference between those like Saul and Judas who perished in God’s judgment in their valley of decision and those, like Peter and Paul, who came out of their valley so victoriously?
Peter and Paul decided to continue serving the Lord through it all. They never gave up! They just kept on going in the face of all adversity.
How many of you remember hearing about or listening to Sir Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of Great Britian during World War II?
In the height of the Battle of Britain, the British Intelligence Corp broke the code of the German Luftwaffe. One of the messages that the British intercepted was an order to bomb the city of Coventry. Churchill had a choice to make and either way it would be costly. He could warn the citizens of Coventry and have them evacuate, thereby saving possibly hundreds of lives, or he could keep the decoding a secret, allow the city to be bombed without warning, and keep Britain’s secret safe and use their ability to intercept messages to save countless lives and perhaps make the difference in their victory in the end. He chose to let the bombing happen and save their secret.
History is his judge now and it has proven him to have made the right choice, but do you think that he was not in a deep valley of decision in that process and throughout his career during the war? Every day he had to make choices that meant life or death for many. He could have run and hid, given up and surrendered, or just simply resign and go down in history as a coward in the face of Britain’s greatest enemy.
But, we find him later making that famous speech after the war where he says, “Never Give UP! Never Give Up! Here was a man who practiced what he preached.
And that’s our answer today! If you are in a valley of decision and the devil is screaming in your ear that you will never make it; that no one cares anymore; that God isn’t listening; that the church has failed you or that you’re unworthy – just remember that the devil is a liar and the father of all liars and Never Give UP!.
Hold on to the Lord Jesus Christ! Cast yourself at his feet! Turn to him and just wait upon him! He will not fail you! You will come out of this valley of decision and be victorious on the other side.
Remember when you are in your valley of decision that “this too shall pass”. God will bring you out victoriously, just don’t give up on Him. Somehow God will make a way for you, a way to escape, and a way to victory.
I want to close by reading a poem by Mr. John Oxenham. Listen to what it says.
To every man there openeth
A way, and ways, and a way.
And some men climb the high way,
And some men grope below,
And in between on the misty flats
The rest drift to and fro.
And to every man there openeth
A high way and a low;
And every man decideth
Which way his soul shall go.
If you are in the Valley of Decision right now just hold on to Jesus. When you can’t feel him, he is still there. Even when you can’t hear him, he still hears you. Even when you feel lost, Jesus knows where you are. Even when you don’t think you can make, Jesus is standing there to cheer you on and help you over. Just don’t ever give up on God!
Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording, including sermon titles, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these sermons. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and/or quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
