Warnings of the Lowlands

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Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, defeat, devotions, encouragement, enemies, family devotions, focus, low experiences, lowlands, pride, real enemies, victory

Last week, we discovered that the word sycamore actually means rebirth. We talked about how more fruit can be born in the lowlands than on the mountains and how we need to embrace our lowland experiences.

This week, I want us to talk about some things to be aware of when we are in the midst of a lowland experience. Some warnings, if you will.

Warning number one: Lowlands must be defeated just like the mountains.

In my own life, I realize that the mountains in my life must be conquered, but often I just try to survive a lowland experience. Who can think about conquering a land when you are barely breathing through it? But, in the Old Testament, Joshua left nothing undone. He led the children of Israel to have victory over every terrain. Joshua 11:15 says, “Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses. Thus Joshua took all the land: the hill country and all the Negev, all that land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its lowland…” Joshua recognized that the lowlands were just as important to defeat as the highlands. We need to do the same.

Warning number two: There are real, actual enemies in our lowlands.

Joshua 9:1 and 2 says, “Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowlands and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it, that they gathered themselves together in one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel.” What did all these kings hear about? They heard about Israel claiming the ground that the Lord had already given them. We must not be surprised when the kingdom of darkness notices our victories. If we start having victory in one area, every other area will likely feel like it’s getting hit with a two-by-four (spiritually speaking, of course). That’s the way our enemy works. The neat thing about this though is that many enemies are able to be defeated at once! Our God is definitely able to do that. He says in Matthew 19:26, “…With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

We must remember though that sometimes the enemy in our lowland experience is ourselves. Hebrews 12:10-11 says, “…He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 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.” So, in looking at enemies in the lowlands, I must ask myself if my lowland experience is my own doing. If so, I John 1:9 assures us that when we confess, He forgives.

Real enemies are in our lowlands, but the Lord can defeat every, single one just as He did for the children of Israel. Be encouraged that our God is stronger than our enemies whether it’s one, or one hundred.

Warning number three: Don’t get stuck in the lowlands!

When we are in a lowland experience, we must keep making progress. Imperfect progress it may be (as Lysa Terkeurst calls it), but progress just the same. Psalm 78:47 says, “He destroyed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore trees with frost.” You remember from last week that sycamore trees were grown in the lowlands and here we see that God sent frost on the trees. Not good. This means that any fruit that was on the sycamore trees, any seeds, any sycamore figs were now rendered useless. We must remember that if we refuse to keep making progress in our lowlands, the fruit that was so hard fought for and won will eventually be killed with frost. Think about all the Christians you know who used to be active in a church body, but now grief, bitterness, unforgiveness, or anger has festered so deep that all we see now is a frosted over, hard shell of a Christian. It’s so sad, isn’t it? No one remembers the former fruit. They just see frost. Let’s not allow that to happen to us. Proverbs 4:25 and 26 says, “Let your eyes look directly ahead, and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established.”

Frost is hard to cultivate on a moving object. Let’s keep moving, people!

Last Warning: Don’t despise what the lowlands represent.

The lowlands represent humility, subjection, rebirth and renewal for us. Let’s be honest, that just doesn’t sound like a great time. We want the mountain. We want the breeze blowing through our hair and on our faces. The lowlands sound like hard work. They sound like a fight. They sound like… submission.

Isaiah 9:9 and 10 tells us that the hearts of the people were arrogant. They wanted cedars in place of sycamores. They didn’t want a humble, fruitful tree. They wanted cedar trees instead. They wanted tall, straight, no weaknesses showing, imposing cedar trees. We have that tendency as well. We don’t actually say it out loud, but we do want people to notice us. We want them to notice our progress. We want people to see how strong we are, or at least, how strong we want to be. We just want a few honorable mentions. After all, sycamores are only mentioned 8 times in the Bible, but cedars are mentioned 75. Wouldn’t it be better to be a cedar?

Dangerous thinking, isn’t it? We need to allow God to remind us that all glory goes to Him. All honor should be placed on Him. We can’t make it one step without Him, so He deserves every single ounce of praise. Cedars were in the Temple, sycamores were not. We often find ourselves wanting just a spot in the Temple. We understand people come to worship God, but we wouldn’t mind if someone happened to “ooh” and “aww” over how strong we are, how majestic, how faithful. We don’t want the whole Temple, just one, little bitty spot. Surely God is okay with that? I assure you He is not. He deserves our complete focus. He deserves every fiber of our being to be in full on praise to Him.

So, let’s remember that our lowlands have to be defeated just like any other area of our lives. Let’s remember our enemies are real, but God can and will give us victory over those enemies. Let’s remember to keep moving and not get stuck in the lowlands and let’s get humble before God and not despise what our lowlands represent. I promise not to notice if you appear to be a sycamore, or a cedar. I promise to keep my eyes on the Lord and I pray you will do the same.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

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Rebirth in the Lowlands

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all things for good, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotions, directions, encouragement, exhaustion, family devotions, fruit, hills, lowlands, mountains, paths, trust, valleys

The other day my husband and I were discussing the Biblical account of Zaccheus. You remember, he’s the “wee, little man” who climbed up in the sycamore tree to see Jesus (Luke 19). As we were talking, he told me about a discovery that he had made recently. He said that the name “sycamore” actually meant “rebirth”. So, when Zaccheus chose to climb that sycamore tree, he was actually choosing to be in a place where rebirth could occur. In those first steps to find Jesus, he was trying to draw nigh to God and we know from James 4:8 that when we draw nigh to God, He’ll draw nigh to us. He just can’t help Himself. It’s who He is.

This discussion led me to look up every time the word sycamore was used in the Bible. What I found was so neat! There are eight occurrences in the Bible regarding sycamore trees and almost every single one refers to where they were grown. They were grown in the land of Judah in a place called Shephelah. It just so happens that Shephelah is in the lowlands, actually it is the term used for the whole region of the lowlands. In First Kings 10:27, it says, “The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland.” Other references to where they are grown are in First Chronicles 27:28, Second Chronicles 1:15, and Second Chronicles 9:27. The fact that sycamores are grown in the lowlands reminded me that rebirth can only happen when we humble ourselves, when we are willing to seek God’s face in meekness and when we are willing be in the lowlands.

I think that Christians and non-christians alike don’t enjoy being in the lowlands of life. We would just rather not be anywhere that is not a mountain top experience. We all like to be riding high on life. The lowlands? No, thank you. We are fine on the mountain. When we do have a lowland experience, we want to run through it quickly, but we want to meander as slowly as possible when we are on the mountain.

In studying the geography of the lowlands I found that “the Shephelah was a zone of low, rolling foothills separating the high, rugged hill country of Judah from the flat, open coastal plain. The heavy runoff from the western slopes of the hill country flows into a series of six broad, shallow valleys furrowed into the soft limestone of the Shephelah, each of which is a focal point of rich, agricultural life. Historically, the Shephelah as a whole, and its six valleys in particular, has been a buffer zone between the hill country and the coast…” The Rose Then and Now Bible Map goes on to say that people in the Shephelah were more rural and conservative than on either side, but “the Shephelah, a true land between was desired by both.”

Even though the Shephelah was in the lowlands, it was desired because of the agriculture, because of the fruit it was capable of bearing. I pray that is how we begin to look at our lowlands, as places of rich fruit. The mountains are beautiful yes, but its climate is not conducive to growing much of anything. Have you ever seen huge fields of wheat, or a massive grove of fruit trees growing on the side of a mountain? Not usually. But, in the lowlands of the Shephelah there is rich agriculture. Everyone wanted the Shephelah region due to the yield that it was capable of producing. We should desire our lowlands as well knowing that in those places God can till and tend and grow fruit that we never dreamed possible.  John 15:8 tells us, “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” If fruit is in the lowlands, that’s where we want to be. When we understand the ministry of the lowlands, we find that they are places of replenishment, of rekindling and a place to develop a deeper level of trust in the Lord. The lowlands can be tough, but they are places of rebirth where everything has the possibility of change. The lowlands provide a feeding of our soul that otherwise would be missed if we were only on the mountains.

An amazing example of fruit in the lowlands are the early Christians in the book of Acts. The word fruit, or fruitful, is only mentioned twice, but these words don’t even have the same meaning as the fruit we are after. The book of Acts doesn’t have to say the word fruit for it to be obvious that a massive harvest was being produced. The Christians in the book of Acts were definitely in the lowlands physically speaking. They were being ridiculed, thrown in jail, beaten and even killed for the cause of Christ, but the fruit they bore was remarkable. In fact, their lowland experience is still bearing fruit today. They took advantage of it and put it to work for the Kingdom of God. Let’s be willing to do the same.

Psalm 25:10 says, “All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.” Let’s take God at His Word and be thankful for every path that He leads us to. Let’s not run through our lowlands as quickly as possible, but absorb every moment, every lesson and every opportunity to bear fruit. Before you know it we will be headed to the mountain once again with a bag full of fruit, shallowness of soul gone forever and a richer trust in the Lord than we ever thought possible. So, let’s be thankful for the lowands!

Seeking Hearts Ministries

Lessons in the Blackberry Patch (Part Two)

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Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotions, encouragement, fields, fields of harvest, fruit, fruit in the field, fruit on the vine, harvest fields, Lord of the harvest, our field of harvest, perspective, salvation, some have watered, souls, sowing seed, surrender, white unto harvest

Last week I blogged about a lesson I was learning while in the blackberry patch behind our house. Something I didn’t explain was that if my husband hadn’t pointed the vines out to me, I would have never seen them. We were trekking along through the field and I was yammering on and on about something and he said, “Hey, look at this.” Lo, and behold, a few blackberries were ripe and sweet and quickly gobbled up. We looked around and realized that a lot more were starting to turn and this began my family’s blackberry journey for the season. If my husband hadn’t said anything, our summer would not have been filled with fruit. It would have just been business as usual.

Throughout the picking season, I have been so grateful to my man for seeing the fruit that I had missed. I never dreamed there were berries to be harvested in a place we had never tended. I didn’t even know where to look. But, he saw the fruit and helped me to see it as well.

As I’ve pondered this over the last week, I realized that our Savior points out the same thing to us in John 4:35. He says, “…Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” He is pointing out ripe berries that we would otherwise be oblivious to. This passage in John goes on to say in verses 37 and 38, “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

I didn’t realize there were berries behind our house because I hadn’t planted berries behind our house. I didn’t expect fruit since I had never labored in that field. I wasn’t ready for the harvest simply because I didn’t know the fruit was there. I didn’t see it.  Jesus is telling us that there is fruit to be harvested we just have to realize it and go get it.

Do you remember from last week that it was hard for me to see some of the berries until I was on my knees? I think no matter which lesson I am learning in the blackberry patch, that lesson will always apply. When my perspective is right, when I am on my knees, I see the fruit ready to be harvested. Otherwise, all I will see is briers and weeds. The entanglements of this world will always cloud my vision until I am in full surrender to Him. I need His eyes to see the fields that are ready to receive Him.

I know it’s hard to believe that there is fruit to be gathered from places that we have not labored, but we must realize that others have labored there. Generations have prayed, sowed numerous seeds and watered the fields. All we are being asked to do is bring in the harvest. I realize that the fruit is often hard to see. I realize that when we look into our own back fields, we often only see overgrowth, thorns and unripe fruit. But, when we are in full surrender, the Lord of the Harvest shows us just where to go and what fruit is ready. Let’s not let it die on the vine.

So, this is where I’m at. I’m asking God to help me to see the fields that are white unto harvest. I’m asking for business as usual to stop. I’m asking for laborers to work in those fields (Matthew 9:38).I’m offering myself for the work and I’m praying for others to see the fruit as well. After all, what good is a berry patch, a peach grove, or souls that are ready to accept Christ if there is no one is pick, gather, or lead? God assures us that the harvest is there, we just need to lift up our eyes and see it.

Lessons in the Blackberry Patch (Part One)

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all things for good, bearing fruit, burdens, calling, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotions, encouragement, encouragment, exhaustion, faith, focus, fruit, much fruit, perspective, tasks, weary in well doing, work in the fields, worth it

My family has recently found a wild blackberry patch growing in the field behind our home. So, my youngest and I go out about every third day and pick all the blackberries that we can find. Let me tell you, we need jeans and bug spray and heavy shoes, but it is awesome to be able to pick blackberries that we never planted, haven’t been sprayed with pesticides and would cost quite a bit of money at Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s. It’s some kind of amazing to pick bounty for your belly straight from God Himself.

As we were picking berries this morning, I happened to drop one. I bent to pick it up and ended up on my knees. I looked up and lo and behold there were more beautiful, ripe blackberries in spots I never dreamed. I was amazed that I hadn’t seen them before. If I had still been standing, I would have never realized that they were there! I recognized in that moment that I just needed the right perspective to see all the fruit. I needed to be on my knees, looking up.

Over the years, verses like Matthew 12:33 and John 15:5 and 8 have frustrated me. They say things like, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit.” “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” “…for the tree is known by its fruits.” Frustrating stuff because I know I’m a disciple of Christ. I think I’m abiding. I think I want God to receive glory, but where’s the fruit?

As I was kneeling on the ground this morning, I realized the fruit is there. When I am abiding in Christ, when His Spirit has invaded every part of me at my request and when I am seeking His face with every fiber of my being, the fruit is there. I just need the right perspective and the right perspective is not getting distracted with the overgrowth, the thorns, or what fruit is in someone else’s bowl. The right perspective is acquired when I am on my knees, looking up at my Savior. Then, I am able to see the fruit that He has allowed in my life.

Second Thessalonians 3:13 says, “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.” When we don’t readily see the fruit in a situation, we can grow weary. Our tasks become harder when we don’t see results. But, by having the right perspective, we are in a position to better see His fruit in our life. When we are on our knees looking to Him, the thorns aren’t so tangled and the nettles aren’t invading our senses quite so much. We can actually see the fruit and be encouraged.

So, let’s get on our knees each day. Let’s look up and ask God to show us the fruit that He has allowed to grow in our lives. Has that teenager in your life decided that they won’t immediately leave when you enter the room? Will the neighbors let you prayer for them now? Has your spouse decided to give your marriage one more try? Has your youngest quit complaining about going to church? There is fruit. We just need to kneel down to see it.

We also need to remember that when we get to our heavenly home, we will have the best perspective of all. As we are on our knees before our Father, I have no doubt that He will pull away the branches, the thorns and the weeds that were as big as we were in this life, lift our precious faces and say, “Look at all this fruit, sweet one. Look what you allowed Me to grow in your life.” And as we look up with His gentle prodding, I believe our jaws will drop. I believe that our faces will light up and we will be amazed at all the fruit that grew in our lives without our even knowing about it. We will be assured that every task was worth it. Every opportunity did bear fruit. We just needed the right perspective. We needed His.

We Didn’t Mean for it to Happen

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assumptions, battles, bitterness, burdens, calling, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotions, encouragement, exhaustion, faithfulness, fertile soil, God, laziness, overgrowth, sluggards, thistles, thorns, unkept fields, weeding, weeds

Proverbs 24:30-32 says, “I passed by the field of the sluggard, and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense; and behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles, its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked and received instruction.”

When I read this the other day, I couldn’t help but think of a lot of areas in the lives of Christians today. I thought of the state of our families, our personal testimonies and our churches. We didn’t mean for things to become this chaotic, it just somehow happened. We didn’t mean for our lives to become so busy that the thorns and thistles of life took over, but now we look around and so many minor things have become major. We didn’t mean for our church fields to become fallow and weedy, but that’s exactly what they are. We didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did.

This passage in Proverbs tells us that the people involved didn’t mean for things to get as bad as they did, they just weren’t paying attention. They were tired. They were idle and the weeds grew. I’m sure the sluggard would have much rather the field still be ready for a harvest, but he had rested too long and things had gotten out of hand. He didn’t actually go out to his field and sow the thistles. He just didn’t do anything, or if he did anything, it sure wasn’t enough. Thistles took over and one day I’m sure he looked at his field and was shocked to see the work that it would take to remove all the overgrowth. He must have thought, “Is it worth it? Do I even need to bother to try to get this mess fixed? Is there still hope for a harvest?”

I think a lot of Christians feel this way today. We didn’t mean for a standard to fall. We just didn’t stop the progress of the weeds. We got tired of pulling the same stinkin’ thistles over and over again. We wanted to rest, but just for a little while. After all, that video game isn’t really that bad for our kids. That book is supposed to have great educational properties, so we’re sure it’s okay this time. We got tired of always being the parent that says, “No.” Or, we got tired of always being the one to apologize, so we decided that relationship was finished until they apologize. Unfortunately, they never did, so we allowed a root of bitterness to grow (Hebrew 12:15). We didn’t mean for it to happen. We were just too tired to continue the work.

Do you see how easy it is? How easy it is to simply do nothing? When we do nothing, the weeds come quickly and in abundance. The nettles grow and the next thing we know our wall is tumbling down due to the pressure from the weeds. Our ancient landmarks simply vanish (Proverbs 22:28) because we forget that our strength is in the Lord. We grow weary in well doing because we forget that God makes our feet like hinds’ feet to make us walk on our high places (Habakkuk 3:17-19). We forget that He is our Source and our Deliverer (Psalm 37:40). We forget and the weeds grow.

I’m sure all of us remember the famous quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Well, in the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah decided that he was going to stop doing nothing. We read that the Lord told him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. We see that Nehemiah was granted favor from the king, but of course, he had quite a bit of opposition throughout the process.

This is our plight as well. We have the favor of our King to rebuild our walls, but the opposition is great. When we start pulling the weeds of bitterness, anger and unforgiveness, it is going to get Satan’s attention and the opposition will be strong. We have to be determined to not give up. I Thessalonians 5:24 says, “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” When you are willing to start pulling the weeds, the Holy Spirit’s rain will fall and soften the soil. Hosea 6:3 says, “…His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” The Word also assures that He will be pulling right alongside you and He will refresh your spiritual muscles when things get too rough. He is so faithful!

Satan will be an opposing force, but so will those we affect. If we have let our standards come down with our family, (our walls if you will), they will be a forceful opposition as well. If you have allowed a television show, a video game, a song choice, a book, or anything else in your home that shouldn’t be there and now you are pulling those weeds out….watch out….opposition is headed your way. Be sure and explain your stance and pray together about the situation. You may even need to ask their forgiveness for letting those particular weeds in, but don’t grow weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9). Keep pulling the weeds. Nehemiah said to the Israelites in Nehemiah 4:14, “… ‘Do not be afraid of them; remember the LORD who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.’” I know that nothing can cause more fear in the heart of a parent than a confrontation with a child about removing something they have fallen in love with, but it will be worth it. It may feel like you are fighting with your children, but remember you are really fighting for them. They are worth the work.

Another opposing force will be yourself. Weeding is hard work! And, the longer the job has been left unattended, the harder it is. Everything not of God must be cleared out and then the boundaries must be reset. Not only that, but once everything had been re-established, things must be maintained, or you are right back where you started. It sounds exhausting, but remember this is your calling. We are called to fight for our fields of influence. We are called to protect the land the Lord had entrusted to us. We are called to keep our fences up and our weeds out. But, we are not alone in the endeavor. We are never alone. Hebrews 13:5 tells us that our God will never leave us or forsake us. He never gets tired, or lazy. He never sleeps. Hebrews 13:6 goes on to say, “…we confidently say, ‘The LORD is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?’”

So, no matter how bad the prospect of weeding looks, God is calling you to get to it. Your fields are at stake. Your family is at stake. Your church is at stake. Your life influence is at stake. Determine not to be a sluggard. Determine to be the workman that He has called you to be (Ephesians 2:10) and know that the day you look at the garden of your life and just see beautiful, pliant, fertile soil that you will know that your God can do exceedingly, abundantly whatever you can ask, think, or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Then, you will be able to sing at the top of your lungs, “To God be the glory great things He hath done!”

Seeking Hearts Ministries