Hello. My name is Frank Johnson, and I am speaking to you today from my video blog, ProdigalGod.com.

Today’s message will be the third in a four-part series entitled, “The Valley of Weeping.”

I’m basing my comments regarding the suffering we experience in life on Psalm 84, so if you’d like to open your Bibles to that passage, you will be ready to follow along.

Let’s get started.

The Motivating Force
The first thing we must do in order to traverse the valley of weeping victoriously is to begin our journey in the Christian life with a firm resolve. Secondly, we must allow our goal in the Christian life to be the motivating force which forcefully draws us through the valley of weeping.

Verse 7 of Psalm 84 says, “They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”

The goal of the psalmist’s journey was Zion. In the Scriptures, Zion represents more than the physical city of Jerusalem. It was the place where one encountered God, where one drew near to Him and experienced intimacy with Him. The pilgrims of Psalm 84 appear before God in Zion.

At the outset of this psalm, our pilgrim declares his deep hunger for the presence of God: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”

And so the psalmist’s heart was possessed with a desire to be in Zion, with a desire to encounter his God, with a desire for intimacy with Him. The psalmist was able to traverse the valley of weeping victoriously because his desire to encounter God and grow in intimacy with Him called him on through the valley of weeping.

The goal of our journey is also Zion - again, not the physical city of Jerusalem, but that which Zion represents, the place of encounter with God, the place of intimacy with Him.

And like the psalmist, if we are to victoriously traverse the valley of weeping, our hearts will need to be possessed by a desire for Zion, by a desire for encounter with God, by a desire for intimacy with Him.

Our Citizenship is in Heaven
This deep desire which the psalmist demonstrates is in contrast to the desire of those who are Christians only for the sake of blessings, whose goal is not Zion, but comfort; whose goal is not that which is eternal, but that which is physical and material.

It is in contrast to the modern “prosperity teaching,” which really isn’t modern at all. Paul condemned this teaching when he clearly wrote to Timothy that those who teach that godliness is a means of financial gain are men of depraved minds who are deprived of the truth. [1 Timothy 6:3-10]

Paul went on to say that we should be content with food and clothing. And as one teacher has said before, the Greek doesn’t mean “banquet and wardrobe.” [The insight and language are taken from a sermon preached by Steve Savelich of Eugene, Oregon].

Later, in writing to Timothy again, Paul speaks once more of those whose goal is material blessing. In 2 Timothy 4:9-10, Paul writes some of the most tragic words in all the Bible: “Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica;”

The heart of Demas was not possessed by a desire for Zion; his heart was not possessed by a desire to encounter God; his heart was not possessed by a desire for intimacy with God. Instead, he loved this present world.

This is also the testimony of the life of Judas, who betrayed the Lord Jesus for the sum of thirty pieces of silver. His eyes were not turned towards Zion. He did not seek intimacy with God.

The words of Paul in Philippians 3:8-10 ring true here: “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. (But), our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Beloved, do not set your mind or your heart on earthly things. Your citizenship is in heaven. Wait eagerly for the Savior. Seek intimacy with Him. Seek encounter with Him. Turn your eyes towards Zion.

Modern prosperity doctrine is not the gospel of the kingdom. It is not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is another gospel. It is a false gospel.

If you are not seeking intimacy with God, if you are not seeking encounter with Him, if your eyes are not turned towards Zion, but instead you are seeking comfort and material blessing, the valley of weeping will not result in greater maturity and greater intimacy with God for you. You may pass through the valley of weeping because God is faithful even when we are faithless [2 Timothy 2:13] , but you will pass through unchanged.

But those whose focus is not upon that which is physical and material, but upon that which is eternal, are able to victoriously traverse the valley of weeping. Those who are seeking intimacy with the Lord, those who are seeking encounter with Him, those whose eyes are turned towards Zion, will continue on victoriously through the valley of weeping.

And so Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. And according to Hebrews 12, we are to endure the discipline of the Lord, knowing it will produce holiness and righteousness in our lives.

An Example from the Life of Paul
In 2 Corinthians 11:24-27, Paul wrote of his sufferings: “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul tells us how he was able to victoriously traverse these valleys of weeping: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Do you see the contrasts in those verses? Our outer man is decaying, but our inner man is being renewed. Our afflictions are momentary, but they produce an eternal weight of glory. We don’t look at the things which are seen, but at things which are unseen. We don’t look at temporal things, but at eternal things.

Paul was able to victoriously traverse the valley of weeping because he maintained his focus upon that which was eternal. He longed after intimacy with God, and he allowed that longing to be the motivating force which called him on through the valley of weeping.

Beloved, if you don’t allow your goal - that which is eternal - to be a motivating force in your journey, if you don’t long after intimacy with the Savior, if you don’t long after encounter with God, the valley of weeping will not result in greater maturity and greater intimacy with God for you. You may pass through the valley of weeping because God is faithful even when we are faithless [2 Timothy 2:13], but you will pass through unchanged.

This concludes the third part of our series. I hope you will join me next time as we look at the third of three secrets to traversing the Valley of Weeping victoriously - The Transformed Obstacle.

Thank you for joining me today.