Quote:
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” – A.W. Tozer

Series takeaway:
Your success (growth and quality) as a sheep will be completely dependent upon your proximity to the Shepherd.

*Last week: we saw how this entire Psalm begins with calling us as a pressured people to a place of REST. Our first steps aren’t into activity and assignments, but REST. That’s the call of the gospel – it’s not about what we DO, we REST in what Jesus has DONE for us. We begin there – and out of rest and refreshment -God will call us forward with him…

Tonight we turn to verses 4-5:

There is an old Arab parable that says: “All sunshine & no rain makes a desert." If you never have any down times, OR dark times in your life you'll be dried up. It takes good times and challenging times to make a mature person. Life is a mixture of pain and pleasure, of victory and defeat, of success and failure, of mountain-tops and valleys.

There's some realities about valleys that we need to remember...
VALLEYS ARE INEVITABLE & UNPREDICTABLE. VALLEYS ARE IMPARTIAL. VALLEYS ARE TEMPORARY. VALLEYS ARE PURPOSEFUL.

God can & will build your faith in the valleys of life. We love to enjoy the mountain tops. But, you BUILD faith in the valleys of life.

We all will log time in the valleys of life. NOW, Does God cause accidents & tragedies? No. God doesn’t cause them. God is a good God and He cannot cause evil. He cannot do evil. BUT God CAN use accidents and tragedies for our good.

The question remains: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE DARK VALLEYS?
1. REFUSE TO STAY DISCOURAGED & REBUFF the urge to QUIT in the valley.

We can choose to think discouraging thoughts. We can choose to only look at all the negatives. We can choose not to look at Christ and what His power can do. It is our choice. And we can choose to change our mindset with God’s power.
That's what God wants you to do -- choose. It's a deliberate act.
How do I choose to not be discouraged?
By focusing on God's power rather than on your problems.
Don’t tell God how big your problem is – tell your problem how BIG your God is!

Human energy runs out. We are LIMITED BEINGS - After a trial of a certain length of time, you don't have any energy left. No stamina. Human endurance has an end to it. In the valleys of life you need a power source bigger than yourself. We need to draw from GOD – WHO IS UNLIMITED – you need a power source beyond yourself to plug into.

2. REMEMBER THAT GOD IS WITH YOU.
David said, "For You will be with me. You're with me every moment." God not only promises us His power in the valley, He promises His presence.
As a follower of Christ – (as one in God’s flock and under his care): YOU will never go through a valley in life by yourself. You will never go through a dark day alone.

NOTE:
*At verse 4 of Psalm 23 there is a strategic change in the language. In the first part of the Psalm all of the pronouns are in the 3rd person -- he talks about God: "He leads me beside still waters, He guides me into green pastures, He restores my soul". David is talking ABOUT God.
But when he gets in the valley it changes to second person pronouns. He starts talking not about God, BUT TO God. "You are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me." All of a sudden the Ultimate becomes the Intimate.

3. WE RELY ON GOD'S PROTECTION AND GUIDANCE.
David reminds himself that God's rod and staff comforts him. The rod and staff were the 2 basic tools that a shepherd used to protect and guide the sheep. A rod was basically about two foot long, at the end of it was a heavy knot. Shepherds were very skilled at hurling the rod, like a missile, at anything that would attack the sheep. God is saying, "When you go through the valley, I'm defending you. I'm protecting you." A staff was a long stick with a crock at the end of it. The shepherd uses a staff to guide and comfort. He will use the staff to draw the sheep in close to him. He will use the staff to lift them up when they're down. He uses the staff to guide them. When you go through the valley, you're not going through it alone. God's with you and He's using His rod and staff to PROTECT & GUIDE.

=WE’RE TO LET JESUS SOOTH OUR WOUNDS. "You anoint my head with oil." Shepherds put oil on heads of sheep for 2 reasons: to sooth and to heal.
Healing occurs in two main phases. You know this physically but it's also emotional. When you are hurt – have surgery or you break a bone -- there are always two phases to the healing. First is the "be still" stage -- you lay in the bed after the surgery. Or they put a cast on your arm so you can't move it. After a while they cut the cast off and tell you to move your body. That's the second stage -- the "get moving" stage. God says "Be still and know", let me help you. Then He says, "Get moving" it's like he's saying you need emotional therapy -- you need to get out in ministry. That's where the healing is going to finish off…

*SCARS:
Even after you've been totally healed, you're going to have a scar. There are always scars after you've been hurt. When you have a scar you have a choice: every time you look at the scar -- because you're going to see it -- you can either remember your HURT or you can remember your HEALER.

= WE’RE TO LET JESUS SATISFY OUR NEEDS
"My cup overflows". In the Bible, an overflowing cup, is a symbol for total satisfaction. It means, "I've got everything I need.." God can meet your needs. He never runs dry. He’ll never abandon you. He never lets you down. If you look to Him your cup can overflow. With HOPE (Romans 15:13), with LOVE (1 Thess 3:12), with JOY (John 16:14).

*the Middle East & filling the cup...
If you came to somebody's house, even if you were a total stranger, the first thing you do is offer them a cup of water or wine. They drink the cup and you refill it. They drink that cup and you refill it. ... As long as the cup kept being refilled it meant you were welcome to stay. If you came to somebody's house and after several refills, they left the cup empty, it meant your time was up -- it was time to leave. If the host decided he really liked the person and wanted him to stay a long time, they would take the cup and fill it -- not only to the rim but they would let it overflow. You don't waste water or wine in the desert. But when an overflowing cup was shown it was a symbol that you can stay as long as you want. It meant you are special.

When God says to you, "I'm going to fill your cup to overflowing" it means you matter to Him, you're significant & very special to Him.

If you're hurting because you’ve logged time in the valley & the hurts of life are mounting up upon you = Jesus invites you to a banquet and to His presence with you in the valley.

TO DO:
-ask yourself: how can I maximize & maintain a rhythm of living that keeps me in close proximity to MY Shepherd (Jesus)?
-Memorization Challenge: commit now to memorize Psalm 23 by then end of January.*this week repeat verse 1-5 to yourself.

Need Prayer? ....we've got some of our prayer team and pastors available following service to pray with you. Or you can text the word "prayer" to our phone number: #520-300-9001 to submit your prayer request or submit one via our new app. We look forward to partnering with you in prayer.