Abigail (28 Nov 2012)
"Lou Ann, Scott and all going through a Valley"

 
Take heart!  Attacks from the enemy - however excruciating they may be - are an encouraging sign.  If the enemy did not attack, then we would have something to be concerned about.  The only way Jesus can get us to turn and depend on him, is to take away all crutches - bit by bit.  He only allows things (however small or gigantic these may be) for our ultimate benefit.  So, regardless of our circumstances, we can trust him. 
 
Remember Job - in the midst of his terrible pain (both physical and mental because of his "Christian" comforters), he clung to God.   He questioned and tried to reason things, but all through knew that God was all he had.  What a blessing Job's recorded trials have been ever since.  The book of Job shows us just what an almighty and powerful Creator we have.  He is so big and we are so small!
 
We are all "Job's" - going through similar journeys.  Almighty God is indeed our deliverer.  The Holy Spirit is our ever dependable comforter.  We have good reason to rejoice in the midst of our trials - however much they hurt in the flesh.
 
 Below is an extract from a book that I would recommend to anyone "going through the mills".  While the book is out of print, it can still be obtained secondhand.  The deeper the valleys through which we have to go, the more we find we have to turn to Jesus, as crutch after crutch is removed.  The good news is that, with each "valley experience", .the less we are affected adversely by what others do or say. The only opinion that really matters is God's!   What a release!   Praise God!
 
Let the excerpt by Florence Bulle below speak for itself.
 
Excerpt from Lord of the Valleys, by Florence Bulle,  Published by Logos International, 1972.
From the chapter Alone with God - in the Valley
You don't have to travel this way long before discovering that the farther you go with Jesus, the thinner the crowd gets.  For if you desire a depth of communion beyond the ordinary, Jesus will take you into a place, shut in alone with Him, where nobody else can go .  .  .  just Jesus and you.  .  .  .
 
Once we embrace His Lordship to the limit, however, there will be a driving compulsion to be alone with Him.  Jesus will give us the privilege of going on a little further with Him.  There will be our own personal Gethsemane.  And Calvary.  .  . .
 
I knew there could be only one answer.  Jesus was calling me to complete aloneness with Him - His Lordship.  His heart of love would never be satisfied with anything less, "because he delighted in me."  And "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."   No-one can share the sacredness of that love!
 
The Lord didn't ask me to give up these friends.  He did ask me to be willing to let Him do whatever He desired, not holding back for fear it would cause misunderstanding between us.  He reminded me of still others who would  be estranged from me.  I knew how deep-rooted the prejudices;  there were bound to be other hurts, and certainly voiced censure, if in totally yielding to Him, I was brought into certain new dimensions of His grace.
 
But I also knew that when the test comes, my love for Jesus and total commitment to His Lordship would always hold supreme over every other love - family, friends, relations.  If it means being rejected by any or all, my loyalty to Christ still came first.  It included my letting Jesus lead me in ways which might well leave me without a single one who understood.  .  .  .
 
I know much the Lord has allowed in my life has been to teach me utter dependence upon Him. The lessons have not been easy.  But His love has been necessarily ruthless to hold me to my commitment and to establish that relationship where I learned to appropriate His strength and His supply for all my needs.  Such a commitment covers a lifetime of choices, choices which shut me up to God alone.
 
In all of this, I'm well aware of the danger of thinking oneself into a "separate class."  The aloneness Jesus calls us to does not draw one apart from the fellowship of believers nor the reaching out to unbelievers; rather it opens the channel of love to all.
 
If there is to be separation, it will be of God, because we have moved in the flow of God and He has channeled the stream.
 
Commitment to going on a little farther, is a commitment of unquavering trust in the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every situation - regardless of people or circumstances.  It means recognizing His voice when surrounded by the crowd and no one else hears or is aware of His presence.
 
It means keeping the counsels of my heart.
 
Especially, to me, it means going directly to Him, trusting His promise that what we ask in His name He will do.  It means not allowing anything to be hidden - all exposed to Him.
 
It means sharing the Triune love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - an intimate relationship, dependent not upon geographical location, being with other believers, in the midst of the multitude, with a chosen few, with just one other person, or with no one at all.  It is that inner indwelling of His Spirit which nothing on the outside can touch. 
 
Alone?  Forsaken?
 
When you are conscious only of His presence, He can reveal Himself beyond the ordinary.  He will begin to discover you to yourself.  And if you discover your place in Him, you will be able to smile back even in the dark, in the loneliest valley, and say, "Yes Lord.  You are all I need.  My life is hid IN CHRIST.  And I am complete in Thee."
 
______________________________________
 
What a privilege!  Hold in there! 
Yours in Christ
Abigail, NZ