Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Guest (Male): Hello everybody, this is Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope with Rick Warren. I’m really glad you’re here today. We’re continuing our series from Psalm 23 called Living in the Goodness of God. It’s all about how God’s goodness meets you right where you are and brings hope even in difficult seasons. And now here’s part two of a message called The God of My Valleys.

Rick Warren: You may feel like I’m stuck, I’m addicted, I’m imprisoned, I can’t break free from this relationship, I can’t break free from this addiction, I can’t break free from this habit, and I am stuck. I’ve been running, I slipped, I fell, and now I’m stuck. Siddim is the place in your life you’d like to forget. It’s your public failure.

Can you imagine how embarrassing it is to be a king and you’re secretly running from the battle? And while you’re secretly running from the battle, you get stuck and publicly everybody knows you’re running from the battle and now you’re stuck in a pit of tar and you can’t get out. That’s embarrassing.

The Valley of Siddim is your place of greatest failure. What’s your Siddim? The Valley of Siddim is an embarrassment. It’s where you look foolish and everybody sees you fall and they’re all laughing and they’re all ridiculing. That’s one of the valleys you’ll probably go through in life because we all fall on our face at some point.

Let me talk to you about another kind of valley. It’s called the Valley of Eshkol. Eshkol is a valley in Numbers chapter 13. It’s the story of when Moses sends in the spies to find out what the promised land is going to look like. You remember that the nation of Israel had been held captive in slavery for 400 years in Egypt.

After Moses is called by God to deliver them and they have all of the miracles and they’re set free, they head from Egypt over to Israel. What should have taken about three or four weeks travel takes them 40 years. What in the world they doing for 40 years in the desert? It doesn’t take that long to get from Egypt to Israel. Well, God’s putting them through tests and they keep failing each test.

Finally, after a while, they come up to the edge of the promised land and they get ready to go in. This is a test. Are they going to have enough faith to trust God because their enemies in this promised land? They’re going to have to fight for this land. Moses wants to know what’s going on in the promised land, so he chooses 12 scouts. We know the names of them, they’re in the Bible. One of them was Caleb, another one was Joshua.

These 12 guys go in and they scout out the land and they look and say, "Yeah, it’s a great land, but we have some problems here. We’re afraid of the people who already live here." Their anxiety and their tension gives a majority report. Ten people said, "Don’t even try it. Let’s not go in. Yeah, we’re free from Egypt, let’s just go back there though. We don’t want to fight these guys." Only Joshua and Caleb say, "We could do this. We can win this battle."

We read this story where Moses chooses the spies, sends them in, and in Numbers chapter 13, verse 23, it says this: "Then the spies came to the Valley of Eshkol. The fruit was so abundant that they cut off a grape branch which had a giant cluster of grapes on it. But it was so large and heavy that it took two men to carry it back on a pole between them." Have you ever seen a cluster of grapes that took two men to carry? Not me.

In fact, there are pictures of this. Do you have a picture of that? There we go. That’s the kind of thing. They’re carrying this giant cluster of grapes back. So they’re looking at this really is a land of milk and honey. This is a land of great bounty, of great opportunity. But it says, let’s read the rest of that verse, it says, "It was so heavy that it took two men to carry it back on a pole between them and they also brought samples of beautiful pomegranates and figs."

Now, they come back with a mixed report, and here’s the report in the Valley of Eshkol. Verse 27 says this was their report to Moses: "It is indeed a magnificent country, this promised land. It’s rich and it’s fertile and here’s some fruit as the proof." This is miracle grow stuff. "But the people living there are powerful." Notice "but." That’s a big but. "But, it’s great, it’s a great country. God’s given us a great country, but the people living there are powerful and they’re stronger than we are and they look like giants to us."

Notice this: "In our own eyes, we felt as small as grasshoppers next to them." That’s what you call an inferiority complex. We said we can’t take these guys on. Remember, they have a slave mentality. They’ve been enslaved for 400 years. They don’t know how to break out of the thing that’s going on in their mind. Now, the Valley of Eshkol is different than the Valley of Siddim. What is it? This is the valley of fear.

Eshkol is the valley of fear. And they have to make this decision: "Okay, are we going to go in and take what’s rightfully ours? God has given it to us, or do we back off in fear? Back off in shame? Back off in doubt?" In the valley of fear, I either move ahead or I give up. Now, the fact is these guys had parked at Sinai for over a year. They had lived in self-exile in the desert. God didn’t tell them you have to stay in the desert for 40 years.

They had just been moseying around and they kept failing the tests that God gave them. Now here’s my question: What is your Eshkol? What is your Valley of Eshkol? What’s the place that you’re afraid to move forward in? You’re going to go through this kind of valley in your life. And you’ve known for a long, long time that you should be moving forward in this area. God’s told you to do it, you want to do it, it’s the right thing to do, and you just haven’t done it.

You, my friend, are in the Valley of Eshkol—the valley of fear where you either move forward or you give up. You move forward or you give up. You have to face your fears, you have to take a risk, or you retreat in defeat. How do you know if you’re in an Eshkol, in that kind of valley? Well, tell me what, how do you see what you’re looking at right now? Do you see it as an obstacle or do you see it as an opportunity?

The big thing in your life right now, is it an obstacle or is it an opportunity? Two of the 12 spies saw an opportunity. It’s the promised land, let’s go for it. We can do this. It’s a no-brainer. God’s on our side. Ten of them saw an obstacle and they failed the test. As a result, they spent their life dying in the desert. They never got into the promised land. Why? Because they failed the test of Eshkol.

Let me give you another one. It’s called the Valley of Elah. The Valley of Elah is in 1 Samuel 17. You’re going to go through this valley, probably many times in your life in a similar way. Now, this is a well-known valley because this is where a little boy named David met the giant named Goliath. You know that story. That is in the Valley of Elah.

The Philistines and the Israelites were in the Valley of Elah and they’re poised for battle. It says Saul and the Israelites camped in the Valley of Elah and they drew up a battle plan to fight the Philistines. Now the Philistines and the Israelites each stood their ground, shouting and taunting each other from opposite hills with the Valley of Elah between them. Okay, and so then it said now the Philistine army had a giant champion fighter named Goliath, who was about nine feet tall.

This guy really is big. When Saul and the Israelites saw this, they were terrified and deeply shaken. David’s response—he’s just a shepherd boy, but he’s not afraid. He trusts God. He’s been trusting God all his life. "The Lord is my shepherd," remember he’s the guy who wrote this. "The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need."

In verse 32, David says this: "Don’t worry about a thing," David told Saul, "I’ll go fight this Philistine." Everybody in the army is scared to death to take on this giant. The giant comes down every day and he taunts and he shouts and he goes, "You guys are a bunch of wimps. You’re weaklings. You’re not worth anything." He says, "Let’s not have this battle. How about let’s just go mono a mono, one-on-one? You send out your best guy, Israel, and I’m the best guy for the Philistines. We’ll take each other on. Whoever wins, wins and the battle’s over. You’re the conqueror."

Everybody is scared to death. What is the Valley of Elah? Elah is the valley of conflict. It’s when you’re facing a giant challenge like a Goliath. You’re facing a giant conflict. You’re facing a giant somebody’s in your face. You have an opposition, you have an opponent, you have conflict, you have a challenge. Elah is the valley of conflict. What’s your Elah right now? Some of you are in that valley.

You’re not in the valley of the shadow of death, but you may be in one of these other ones. You may be in Siddim, you may be in Eshkol, and you may be in Elah—the valley of conflict where people are fighting each other. Look at that verse three again up here on the screen. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another with the Valley of Elah between them. Some of you, that describes your marriage. You’re standing your ground over here and your spouse is standing their ground over there and you’re right there in the middle and there’s a deadlock going on. You are in the Valley of Elah.

All right, one more. This is called the Valley of Baca. It’s mentioned in Psalm 84. Again, I just picked out four of the many significant valleys in Scripture. In Psalm 84, the word "Baca" actually means "weeping." It comes from the root Hebrew word to weep. Now, it meant to weep, but actually there was a Valley of Baca, like there were these others. The Valley of Baca was a desert. It was a dry, dry, dusty, arid wasteland. If you wanted to go to Jerusalem as a pilgrim, you had to go through the Valley of Baca to get there.

So all the pilgrims who wanted to come to Jerusalem had to travel through the Valley of Baca, which means the valley of weeping, but it was actually a dry, barren, dusty place. This is a metaphor again about when you’re going through a dry time in your life, when your joy has all dried up. Maybe you’re grieving. Maybe you’re the one that’s weeping in the valley of weeping. Nothing grows there. Nothing’s productive. There’s no fruit, just tears.

In Psalm 84, verses five and six says this: "Blessed are those whose strength comes from the Lord as they pass through the Valley of Baca," that’s the valley of weeping. "They make it a place of springs." All of a sudden water is showing up. As they pass through this dry, arid valley of Baca, weeping, they make it a place of springs and the autumn rains cover it with pools and they go from strength to strength, growing until each appears before God in Zion.

That verse is so packed I could spend the whole service just on that verse. I want you to notice. First, when you’re going through the Valley of Baca, it’s dry. "I don’t have any feelings anymore. I don’t feel close to God. I don’t feel close to my husband. I don’t feel close to anybody. I’m dried up. I have no emotion. I’m just putting in the time. I’m going through the motions, putting one foot in front of the other. There’s no joy in my life, it’s dried up. There’s no energy in my life, it’s dried up. I’m depressed. You may be grieving. You may be weeping yourself. You’re grieving a loss. You’re going through the Valley of Baca."

But the kind of people that God wants you to be, wants me to be, wants us to be, is we make it a place of springs. Water comes when we show up. They go from strength to strength. That’s what God wants you to do your entire life—growing from one level of maturity to the next level of maturity to the next level of maturity and the next level of maturity to the next level of maturity. They grow from strength to strength, growing until each appears before God in Zion.

One day you’re going to stand before God and God says, "I don’t care about your clothes or your career or your cash, but I do care about your character. Did you grow from strength to strength when you were on Earth? And when you were going through these different valleys—the valley of conflict, did you work that out? And when you were going through the valley of decisions and the valley of questions and the valley of confusion, when you’re going through the valley of trouble, when you’re going through the valley of the shadow of death, what did you learn from all that? Did you grow from strength to strength? Did you keep growing until now you’re appearing before me, God, face to face?"

What’s going on here? Faith turns a place without water into a place of springs where you can find refreshment, where you can find what God wants to do in your life. And even in those valleys of grief, when you’re weeping, God wants to use those tears to water a dry and arid place. I read a story last week about William Booth, who was the founder of the Salvation Army. He had sent a man to some state here in the United States—Salvation Army began in England.

The guy was trying to reach people in this community for the Lord and he kept saying, "I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried prayer and I’ve tried music and I’ve tried services and I’ve tried special attractions and they’re just nobody’s interested in hearing the good news." William Booth wrote back two words on a telegram: "Try weeping." Try weeping. When you care about something enough that you weep about it, God moves into action.

Verse six, notice that verse again: "Blessed are those whose strength comes from the Lord as they pass through"—you don’t stay in the valley of dryness, the valley of weeping—"as they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs." What is Baca? Baca is the valley of grief and barrenness. Grief and barrenness. I just wanted you to see before we look at the solution what God says about valleys—that they are inevitable, that they are impartial, that they are unpredictable, but you are going to go through these in life.

You’ve been through them in the past and you’re going to go through them again. In just a second, I want to wrap it up by talking about what do you need to remember when you’re in one of these valleys—the valley of failure, the valley of fear, the valley of conflict, the valley of dryness, the valley of grief. What do you do? What do I need to remember?

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me." Three things God wants you to remember in a valley. Number one: Remember I’m not alone, God is with me. Remember that I’m not alone, God is with me. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. By the way, the word shadow of death, that’s one word in Hebrew—it’s tsalmaveth. Tsalmaveth is the valley of the shadow of death. It’s one of the valleys of life. Guess what? You’re going to go through that one. That’s one valley everybody here and everybody on Earth is going to go through—the valley of the shadow of death.

And he says, "I will fear no evil for you are with me." Now look at that verse on your outline and I want you to circle the word "through" and circle the word "you" because those are the two most important words in Psalm 23, verse four. "Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me." Two key words: "through" and "you." Through—the valley is temporary. You don’t stay in the valley, you walk through it. You’re not going to live your entire life in the valley, you’re going to walk through it. It’s temporary. That’s an important thing. It’s temporary. And he says, "You," you’re not alone. You’re not going to walk through it alone. God is with you in the valley.

Guest (Male): What a great message from Pastor Rick today. There’s something I always take away from his message. Here’s Rick to tell you how you can help support this ministry.

Rick Warren: Jesus told his disciples that they should live their lives according to five specific purposes. He said you’ve got to love God with all your heart—that’s worship; and love your neighbor as yourself—that’s ministry. That’s called the Great Commandment. And then Jesus said go make disciples—that’s evangelism; baptize them into the family of God—that’s fellowship, a sign of fellowship; and then he said teach them to obey everything I’ve taught you—that’s discipleship. And we call that the Great Commission.

We believe at Daily Hope that a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will produce a great Christian, a great church, a great company, a great community. I started Daily Hope so I could spread the good news about Jesus, not just across America, but all around the world. And we want people to know that God’s word is filled with hope and truth and the power that we need to follow him every day is available to every single one. You know as well as I do that the word of God changes lives. It’s alive, it’s active, and it breathes new life and new love into all of our lives.

So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on the website, whether you listen on a radio station, or whether you listen through a podcast, you’re a part of the Daily Hope family. And I need your help. We could not do this without your support. We’re 100% listener funded. Would you continue to pray for this broadcast and would you continue to support us? And write to me, let me hear from you. I absolutely love reading the stories that are sent to me. So write me, pray for me, and support this ministry. And God will bless it, and God will bless you, and we’ll get to heaven and we’ll thank God for all the people going to be in heaven because you cared.

Guest (Male): Hey, if you’d like to support Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, just go to pastorrick.com. That’s pastorrick.com. Or you can text the word HOPE to 70309. That’s the word HOPE to 70309. And really, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you so much for your support. Your gift to Daily Hope helps us share the hope of Christ with people everywhere. Hey, be sure to join us next time when we look into God’s word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope and your generous financial support.