Linda - September, 2024 - We all know what it's like to go through "the valley of the shadow of death" (Psalm 23:4).  It's a place of darkness where anxiety and fear threaten to overwhelm us and where we can become more focused on whatever problem is afflicting us than we are on God's goodness and faithfulness.  We can tend to forget God's lordship over us and we get stressed about all of our problems such as finances, family, work and other such issues.  We try to deal with these problems relying upon our own "lights" and resources instead of going to that place of intimacy with our Lord where we strengthen ourselves in Him, just as David did when his men had threatened him with death.  (1 Samuel 30:6 - "David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.) 

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Numerous accounts in Sacred scripture illustrate that God allows us to go through the valley of trials and tribulations, because He's setting us up for a victory ahead of time.  He wants us to overcome, with His help, so that afterwards, we can sit together at the banqueting table in the sight of all of our enemies. God does this because it is a testimony to His nature and to His redemptive purposes in our lives, purposes that restore us to a place that reminds the enemy that he did not win.  It reminds the devil that his attacks on us only set us up for greater victories in Jesus. 

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This is why trust in God's ways is of such value.  We can often complain, criticize and agonize over all that is going wrong in our lives or over all that is not unfolding as we would want it to, but it's so much better to trust in God's desire and intention to promote us, elevate us and advance us to higher places - such as the banqueting table - in His own way and in His own timing.  God always truly does want to take us into fulfilled purpose, promise and destiny because it glorifies Him on earth.

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Marcel and I know this firsthand.  We had a vehicle, a Grand Caravan that we were intending to hold on to for many years to come, even though it wasn't really our favourite vehicle.  But God allowed the enemy to bring us through a somewhat traumatic valley; a high-speed collision that could have taken our lives.  The good that came from that collision was an upgrade to a more recent vehicle; a RAV4 which was only a few years old. And we were so grateful for it and happy with it!  Our first "newer" pre-owned vehicle in our 35 years of marriage!  But it seemed that this wasn't good enough for the Lord.  He wanted to anoint us with an even better vehicle, so He had our RAV4 stolen from our driveway. With the insurance settlement of that theft, we were able to purchase a brand spanking new vehicle.  What the devil meant for our harm and harassment, the Lord transformed into a good so that we are now "banqueting" upon the goodness of the Lord "in the sight of our enemies".  It wasn't at all easy to navigate that season with joy and gratitude, that's for sure!  At the time, we just didn't understand why the Lord was allowing the trauma, the hassles and the legal ramifications to complicate our lives.  We felt like we just didn't "need that kind of stuff". 

 

But we are so grateful!  We've had our new vehicle now for almost 1 1/2 years and we haven't needed any repair work, apart from the usual seasonal upkeep.  That is such a blessing and a new experience for us!  This new vehicle is meant to better equip us to fulfill our purpose and destiny on the next leg of our journey, but it also showed us how gracious and generous God is.  What the enemy meant for harm, the Lord meant for abundant goodness.

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Evidently, as mentioned above, God not only wants to "prepare a table for us in the sight of our enemies", He also wants us to partake of the goodness He so lavishly provides for us on that table!