My Valley of Elah

the Valley of Elah 

Every day we are in the battle field.. whether you realize or not but it's true. you face the day, struggle for your dream, try to strike your own selfishness or laziness..you face these situations every day..
that's actually what I call "a battle".

Talking about battle, actually there's something God taught me yesterday accidentally from the name of a tree.
yesterday i posted a poem and put a picture of tree on that post. I looked for some pictures but couldn't find the right one till I remembered a name of a tree on the bible. this tree is mentioned many times in the old testament. This tree in my language is quite funny coz its pronunciation is quite similar to the word "terbanting" or in English "slammed". Yes, the tree's name is "pohon Tarbantin" (Elah). Suddenly I felt kinda curious. I wanted to know how does it look like. I typed its name and found that picture. Soon after that I opened that picture and also found the website of that picture. It was taken from ""Sarapan Pagi Biblika". I was a little bit surprised when I read the article about this tree. Actually it's a famous place where this tree grows and it's in the valley called "the Valley of Elah" or in Indonesian "Lebah Tarbantin". In this Valley some amazing moments experienced by the old testament heroes occurred.

what happened there in the Valley of Elah? here are the special moments that happened there;

• In the Valley of Elah, the covenant was bound and established.

 Joshua 24:26-27: And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.

•  in the Valley of Elah the army of Israel set the battle in array against the Philistines

1 Samuel 17:1-3 And the Philistines gathered their armies for battle, and gathered at Socoh [of] Judah, and pitched between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel had gathered and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in order against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one [side], and Israel stood on a mountain on the other [side]. And [there was] a valley between them.

• in the Valley of Elah David struck down Goliath

1 Samuel 21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it [is] wrapped in a cloth under the ephod, if you will take, take it for yourself, for there is no other here except that one. And David said, There is none like that. Give it to me.

If we take a painstaking attention at the sequence of the story, we'll precisely find that it starts with "Covenant", next comes to "preparation or arrangement" and the last is " Victory".
Then I'm trying to link it with the previous lesson i learnt from God this early week of June and I find a very clear connection coz  it is about "Covenant". God still talks to me about Covenant. The first step I've got to learn before I set my self for the battle (for the second step). Isn't it awesome?! yes, nothing's ordinary about your life when you walk with God.

When you start with "covenant", you need to walk in faith that's why all you need to do is to prepare your self for the battle as Saul and the army of Israel did in the Valley of Elah. Don't worry about the battle coz God is our victory, His right hand brings us victory! he gives Victory to His beloved, that's what David wrote in psalm coz David himself had experienced it.

As i shared previously, we are also the heirs of God's promise. We get involved in the covenant of God in Christ our savior. So, no matter how hard your battle these days, remember that it's your Valley of Elah, my Valley of Elah, our Valley of Elah. That's the start of the establishment of the covenant, the arrangement, and the victory of your life.

Dare enough for the battle?

Move forward coz the LORD your God be with you, He is in your front line to bring you the victory!

May the Word from the LORD, God of Israel dwell richly in you....

Haniva