What to do when the conditions are chronic Bro. Allan Tigue July 22, 2009 Five facts about dark valleys 1. Dark valleys are unavoidable - They are going to happen in life.
 Job 5:7 "Mankind is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward."
Col. 1:24 "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the Church."
2. Dark valleys are unpredictable - You can't plan them or time them.
Jer. 4:20 "Disaster after disaster is reported, for the whole land is destroyed. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my tent curtains, in a moment."
3. Dark valleys are impartial - No one escapes the problems of life.
Mt. 5:45 "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
4. Dark valleys are temporary - Troubles in your life don't come to stay. They come to pass.
2 Cor. 4:17 "Our troubles are short-lived and their outcome is an eternal glory which outweighs them all."
5. Dark valleys have a purpose - Whether you have a valley full of doubt, despair, discouragement or defeat, God has a reason behind it."
1 Pt. 1:6-7 "You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials so that the genuineness of your faith, being much more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
What to do when you go through dark valleys?
Ps. 23:4 "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."
1. Refuse to be discouraged. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."
2. Rely on God's presence. "For you are with me."
3. Rely on God's protection. "Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
What are God's rod and staff today? a. God's Word
Heb. 4:12-13 "For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are."
b. God's family
2 Cor. 1:3-5 "He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us."
c. God's Spirit
Jn. 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."
Rev. 21:4 "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away."
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