God of the Breakthrough

            
            If you’re in a valley right now, you don’t have to remain there. In Hosea 2:15, God says,

           “There I will give back her vineyards to her and transform her Valley of Troubles into a Door of Hope. She will respond to me there, singing with joy as in days long ago in her youth after I had freed her from captivity in Egypt.” (TLB)
           
         God wants to transform your valley of troubles into a door of hope. David is a good example of this. David fought Goliath in a valley – the Valley of Elah. When David arrived in that valley and heard the giant’s threats and blasphemy against the God of Israel, faith rose up inside him and he said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel…” (1 Samuel 17:45 NIV).
           
             In the valley, the enemy will try to intimidate you. You can hide in fear or shout God’s promises.
           
            When the enemy says, “You’ll never get well,” shout back that you will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord (Psalm 118:17).
           
           When he says that you will never get out of debt, shout back that you will lend and not borrow (Deuteronomy 28:12) and God is pouring out a blessing beyond all that you can ask or imagine. (Malachi 3:10).
           
          When he shouts that your children will never come to know the Saviour, shout back, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15) and “My children will be mighty in the land.” (Psalm 112:2).
           
         What I’m going to write next is so important. When you’re in the valley, you must speak God’s Words of faith, life, and victory. It’s interesting to note that twenty years after David defeated Goliath, he was in another valley again, the Valley of Rephaim, which means “giants”. But David had been through valleys before and because God was with David and his army, a great victory was won that day.
           
        The Scripture says that after that victory, David re-named the valley ‘Baal Perazim’, which means ‘God of the breakthrough’.
           
       “So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “The LORD did it!” David exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So he named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”).” (2 Samuel 5: 20 NLT).
           
         My dear friend, do not be discouraged. We serve a God who turns valleys of trouble into doors of hope – who changes vales of giants into ones of breakthrough.
           
​       In closing, I just want to remind you that in Psalm 23:4, David wrote, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” (NKJV). He knew God would bring him through the valley and not leave him there. God is no respecter of persons. If He did it for David, He will do it for you!