Thankful For The Valleys of Life

Introduction

Turn, if you will, to John the fifth chapter. John chapter 5. So wonderful to see all of you here. Thankful to be your brother and for you to be my brethren and for us to be worshiping God together. As you know, this is the week of Thanksgiving. And we certainly have a lot to be thankful for. We need to be thankful for the good things. The mountaintops, you might say. But at the same time, we also need to be thankful for the valleys of life. Those times that aren’t so enjoyable. Those long, dark, difficult times of our life that bring us down. You know, it’s easy to be thankful and joyful when things are going well, but it’s not so easy when things are down and things are not going so well.

When disappointment comes, when unfair mistreatment enters your life, or when tragedy strikes, or when you fail and fall flat on your face, or when disease or career-related problems cripple you in despair.

And it’s in those times that you kind of get self-absorbed. And you think, well, you know, it’s it’s easy for others to be thankful. I mean, look at how good their life is. If my life were going that well, then I’d be chipper and positive too. And as we look at our own life, we can begin to think there’s really no blessings in my life. And all we see are the negative things. And we actually think that we have permission to be negative. I mean, it’s like like Jonah when the Lord asked, Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant? And he said, I have good reason to be angry even to death. We tell ourselves, I have good reason to be negative in my situation.

I mean, besides, if God were treating us better, we wouldn’t be so negative. We could be a lot happier. If if he would just treat us fairly, I mean, I don’t know why God is doing this to me. God, why are you mistreating me like this? Do you know that that’s the words and the language and the attitude that Job had that God rebuked him sharply for at the end of the book. It is not wise to blame God and to charge God with wrongdoing. We must learn to be thankful, not only in spite of the bad things, but actually be thankful for the bad things in life. You see, the valleys of life could be much worse. If you will, in John chapter 5, read with me, beginning there in verse 1.

1. The Valleys of Life Could Be Much Worse

Now, after this, that is after the healing of the nobleman’s son, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheepgate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed. Now the rest of verse 3 and all of verse 4, you might see in your version is in brackets. Some versions don’t have it in brackets, but it seems uh to be pretty clear that that portion was later added and is not a part of the original gospel of John. And it was believed that these waters had uh a special power because an angel would come and stir up the waters. And so it had sort of this legendary healing power that as soon as that bubbling starts to happen, the first one in the water would be healed.

And so here are all these sick people, all of these handicapped individuals that are gathered around wanting to be the first one into the water. And in verse 5, now a certain man was there who had an infirmity 38 years. We’re not told exactly what his infirmity was, but he couldn’t walk. And so what would be worse than that? I mean, that’s pretty bad, isn’t it? It’s bad enough today to be someone who is crippled or an invalid and you cannot walk, you know, with uh cars and with wheelchairs. It’s bad enough in today’s world, but back in the first century it would have been much worse. This is a bad situation that this man is in. But what could be worse than being crippled for 38 years?

Well, I can quickly think of something worse. How about being crippled for 39 years? That’d be worse than 38 years, wouldn’t it? You see, we don’t have to think very hard to come up with something that would be worse about the situation, but it was still bad. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be made well? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. But while I am coming, another steps down before me. So he thinks that this man, and he doesn’t know that this man is Jesus, is going to help put him in the water.

That’s the solution to his problems. Now, can you imagine that frustration of believing that these waters would heal me if I would just get in there first before anybody else. And believing that you have the fountain of life right in front of you every day, you lie before it, and yet it is out of your grasp. That must have been frustrating. I don’t know how many of the 38 years or how long of the 38 years that this man had been laying there before the pool of Bethesda. But it must have been very frustrating. So maybe you have tried and tried to get that job that you need so desperately and your family needs. And it seems that everybody else is getting the jobs and getting hired, but you’re being left out.

You know, you can in some ways relate to this man. I mean, the stronger people, the people that were a little bit quicker, or the people that had friends could get put in that water, but not this man. Or maybe you and your spouse have been trying to get pregnant and have not been able to.

That’s discouraging. In some ways, you can relate here to the man who had this frustration of just not being able to find the answer. Or maybe you’ve had a malady, and you’ve had a physical suffering, a situation that you’ve wanted fixed, and you’ve gone to doctor after doctor after doctor, and you just can’t find the answer to the situation. You can maybe in some ways relate to the frustration this man was feeling. On some level, you’re sharing a frustration. Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your bed and walk. Now that’s a wonderful story. But that’s not the end of the story. In fact, that’s just the beginning of the story because there’s trouble brewing. Immediately the man was made well, took up his bed and walked, and that day was the Sabbath.

And the Jews therefore said to him who is cured, We’re really happy that you’ve been made well. Hallelujah. No. They said, It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed. That to them was work. How dare you carry your bed? He answered them, He who made me well said to me, Take up your bed and walk. Then they asked him, Who’s the man who said to you, Take up your bed and walk? But the one who is healed did not know who it was. For Jesus had withdrawn a multitude being in that place. But Jesus was going to come back because Jesus had something more important to tell that man than what he had told him and what he had done even.

In verse 14, afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. Now when he says, sin no more, that doesn’t mean that this man’s suffering had been as a result of sin. But it is to highlight a contrast here. How bad this man’s situation was.

Point in my studying of this. Well, we know that a worse thing could come upon somebody for sin because they would be in hell for all eternity. Whether that’s exactly what Jesus meant, I just can’t pinpoint, but I’ll tell you, we are all lucky, aren’t we? Because every one of us who have sinned deserve to be in hell. And so we are all better than we deserve. And we need to realize that on a daily basis. It could always be worse. And it is worse for so many others. So you don’t have the job. Well, some other people are on the streets and eating out of a trash can. So you have family problems. Well, some people’s parents are dead. Some people’s children are dead. You know, some people don’t have arms or legs.

2. Be Thankful for What We Do Have Now

Or eyesight or hearing. You know, it could always, always be worse. It’s so easy to think of how much better life could be. I’m preaching to myself this morning. I hope it has some meaning to you too. It’s easy to think of how much better life used to be. Hey, things used to be so much better when I was young and healthy and I was making money and life was good, and now look at me. Or to think of how good things could have been or should have been, if only your plans would have would have come true, as you had hoped. If only maybe you’d made some better decisions here and there, things would have been much better. Or if only the people that promised you that they would do this or that had come through, and so we live in bitterness because those things that we had hoped that would happen didn’t happen.

But that’s in the past. Or how good it is for others. Oh, I wish I had it that good, and the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. All such thinking fails to realize that we need to be thankful for what we do have now. The Israelites in the wilderness in Numbers chapter 11, the rabble who were among them had greedy desires, and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. I’ve often kind of wondered about the onions and the garlic for myself. That doesn’t maybe sound like a very exciting thing.

How could they be so excited? Well, I guess that was something they valued highly. But now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna. That’s it. We want meat, we don’t want manna. Well, wait a minute. What was the manna? It was bread from heaven. It was bread from God. It provided nutrition for them, and everything they needed was there in that manna. And where would they be without that manna? Dead. They would have nothing to eat. But they weren’t thankful for the manna because they wanted meat. You see, it’s almost it’s almost natural for us to always want something better. And it’s not that it’s bad to want to improve your situation or your life, but in such a case, if you are coveting that and not thankful for what you do have, you are, and I am sinning in such a case.

You see, the things that you and I take for granted in life, someone else is praying for that.

3. Change Your Attitude: An Attitude of Gratitude

There are people who desperately wish they could just have the basic things in life that we have here in this average life in America, which is rich beyond measure in comparison to the standard of the world in general. And there are people who desperately wish they could have any transportation. Well, I don’t like my car. Is it a car? It runs, right? They wouldn’t care what it looked like. But it’s not nice enough for you or for me. We need to be thankful. And we need to be thankful for things that we cannot change in our life. One of the happiest moments in your life is when you learn to let go of the things you cannot change. If you don’t like something, then with the help of God, change it.

And if you cannot change it, then change your attitude. Because there is one thing that we are in control of. It is our attitude. Philippians 2 and verse 14. Do all things without grumbling and disputing. No complaining, no grumbling. That’s a command. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I will say, rejoice. You see, it’s a choice to have those mindsets. It’s a decision we make. We cannot control every problem of life. We cannot change the past, but we can control and we can change how we respond to life. And we can control our attitude. And not to be silly, but we need to have an attitude of gratitude. We have to focus on the good things, and we have to do that even despite the valleys of life.

You know, there will always be problems. But there will also always be blessings, no matter how bad things get. There will always be something positive. Even if all of your physical blessings were taken away. Your family, your friends, your health, your finances, even if that were all gone, do you not still have the Lord? There are always spiritual blessings. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. God is with us. What a blessing that even in the long, dark, cold valley that we’re in, that God is as a patient and loving shepherd guiding us and protecting us along the way. He will always love you as long as you remain faithful to him.

Nothing could take that away.

As long as you never leave nor forsake him. What a tremendous blessing. No matter how dark life can be.

Good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. When it says dwell on these things, it doesn’t mean to sit in a cross legged position and close your eyes for an hour a day and to think about good things. What it means is let this be your manner of thought. Be thinking on good things. The pure, the positive, the pleasant, the powerful. These are the kind of thoughts that need to dwell in our minds, and that we need to be engulfed in on a regular basis. We need to learn to be thankful despite the problems of life. To choose to focus on the positive.

4. Be Grateful for the Valleys Themselves

The negative is going to be there. So it’s your choice. Which one are you going to focus on? In fact, more than being grateful despite the valleys, we should be grateful for the valleys themselves. The irony is we think that the blessings of life are only the good things of life. But the truth is, the bad things of life provide many more actual substantive blessings in the long term than the good things of life. I mean, think about it in a simple way. If your child really wanted the video game and worked hard for that, would it be better for him to get it or then to not get it? Because by not getting it, he is now going to learn the maturity of dealing with disappointment and the grace that follows that.

Which one is better for him in the long run? To get it or to not get it. Our God is a good God. Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. There’s no variation with God. You’re not going to get anything from God except good and perfect gifts. And that sounds good. But then when the testing and the discipline and the trials of life come, then we say, Well, that doesn’t look so good and perfect to me. That looks pretty bad and flawed to me. But then we need to realize that trials develop our character. Mr. Harkrider, I’ve looked over his outline here on the computer. He’s going to be talking a little bit about James 1, 2 through 4.

But I’ll go ahead and just give you a little bit on it too. In that passage, James says, Consider it all joy, my brethren. When you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, and let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. So we need to look at the trials of life and have an attitude not just of grinning and bearing it, but we need to have an attitude of joy, all joy, because we know that these trials are going to make us better.

In 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 6 and 7. 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 6 and 7. Peter says, In this you greatly rejoice. Hey, there’s that joy we see again. Now you might expect the next part to say something really all positive. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Just like gold that is purified by the fire, so our spirits and our characters are purified and refined through the processes of the struggles and the difficulties of life, so that we can become more of what God would have us to be.

In Hebrews 12, the writer of Hebrews talks about how a father disciplines his children, and so our father has disciplined us for our betterment. And he says in verse 11, all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. Yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. I have three children. And discipline is part of our everyday life. Yeah, even this morning before services. Every day. And they don’t always like it. A lot of times there are tears. Sometimes it’s very unpleasant. And usually it is effective. But sometimes, sometimes it’s not. But for the most part it is. And why do I discipline my children? Because you know, it kind of hurts me to have to discipline them.

But I know that this temporary hurting that is caused to them, even putting them in time out, that’s painful for them. Oh yeah. I know that that will train them. That if I don’t discipline them, that they’re going to be selfish, that they’re not going to know how to get along with others, that they’re not going to show respect, that they’re going to be little brats. And so it’s necessary to discipline children. We are children. God disciplines us. And that doesn’t mean in Hebrews 12 that God is punishing us for doing something wrong. But what it means is just like a father disciplines his children, God is using these terrible things that happen to us and the suffering we endure to form our character to be more mature and more Christlike.

5. Something Good Always Comes Out of the Bad

Something good always comes out of the bad. The thorn in the flesh that Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 12. I talked about this recently in a sermon on prayer. In verse 7, now at the beginning of the chapter, Paul is talking about, he knows a man who was taken up into paradise in this vision. And he’s talking about himself because in verse 7 he says, Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh. A messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself. Now, what was this thorn in the flesh? I don’t know what it was. But whatever it was, it was tormenting Paul. Have you had a thorn in the flesh?

Maybe some physical malady that you have just wrestled with and grappled with maybe for years. Or maybe it’s a mental situation, and you are crippled with depression, anxiety. Then you can relate to Paul in some way. Paul says, concerning this, I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And he has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Now God’s not going to speak directly to us, like he did to Paul, but through the words that we have here, which the Holy Spirit has revealed, God is saying to all of us, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. We need to remember that when we have the thorn in the flesh.

Most gladly, Paul says, Therefore, I will rather boast about my weakness, my weaknesses. This boasting is a thing of joy, even gratitude. So that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Now there’s a verse to print and frame and put on your wall. We need to be well content with the bad things, thankful for the valleys of life. Paul wrote to the Philippians.

So that my imprisonment and the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian guard and to everyone else. And that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. What were his circumstances? He was in prison in Rome. Now he knew that he was going to Rome, but he didn’t know that he would be going there as a prisoner. Sometimes things turn out differently than you might have thought. You know, people say, be careful what you pray for. You pray for patience, then you may just get another child. That’ll teach you patience. Sometimes things turn out differently than we think. Paul knew he was going to Rome. He didn’t know he’d be going there as a prisoner.

But he’s there as a prisoner now, and he is saying, hey, this situation is actually better for the gospel’s sake, because there are a lot of these people here that are holding me in prison that are learning the truth of the gospel. And the brethren out there hearing about my situation are more bold than ever. You know, I can just imagine Paul bowing down before God and saying, God, thank you for sending me to prison. Can you imagine that? Not just thank you in spite of the fact that I’m in prison, but thank you for the prison. I don’t have a record of Paul’s praying that, but I do have a record of his attitude of thanksgiving, despite the valley that he was in. Do we have the grace to pray that sort of thing?

6. In Everything Give Thanks

To pray, God, thank you that I’m experiencing problems at work because they are teaching me patience. Thank you for my family problems, because in that I am learning to be a better example. Thank you, God, for my financial problems because I am learning to put you first. Thank you, Lord, for my health problems, because in that I am learning tremendous humility. Thank you for all the suffering that I endure in life. Because it has made me a better servant of yours. That’s the kind of attitude that the Bible teaches that we need to have. We need to give thanks for everything. Even the bad things. You know, when Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5 18, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

He did not say, in some things give thanks, nor did he say, in the good things give thanks. He said, in everything. And you know what that includes? The bad things. In everything. In fact, he said in Philippians 4, verses 7 and 8, be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Even when we’re making petitions, even when we’re asking God to remove the thorn from our lives, we need to do so with an attitude of thanksgiving for the thorns. The valleys of life are actually a real blessing. And to just throw one more blessing on here before we close.

Conclusion

But it is the people that I have met that have lived much of their lives in distressing situations, in extreme poverty, in great need. Those are the people that I have found have been the most humble and thankful people I have ever met. Because they know what it is to do without. And they’re so thankful then to have. In conclusion, brethren, realize that however long and dark and hopeless the valley that you are in is, that it will not last forever. The Lord said through Isaiah the prophet, let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low. And let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain, a broad valley. And he said that to the Israelites who would be in captivity to assure them that the Lord is going to fix this, it’s not going to last forever.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. And we need to remember that whatever valley we’re in, whatever suffering we’re going through, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And it doesn’t have to be an oncoming train. And even if your valley should last until the day of your death, ultimately we must realize that momentary light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. That the light at the end of that tunnel is brighter than any light that you have ever possibly imagined. And that at the end, this life is just a short breath. And it’ll all be over. And that going through the valleys and learning to be thankful in the valleys and thankful for the valleys is part and parcel of what will develop our character to be in that light where God is.

Would you bow your head with me in a word of prayer? Our Father, our God, we thank you so much for our lives. We are so blessed, even spoiled, and we lose perspective on what’s really important.

We have a sense of entitlement. And we haven’t learned very well to deal with disappointment. I haven’t always learned that very well. Forgive me, Father. Give us grace that we may be thankful in spite of the bad things and actually be thankful for the bad things. And that we would allow them to mold us into the character of Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we pray. Amen. We’re going to be dismissed at this time for Bible classes, and we will reconvene at 9 55.