# NEW MERCIES DAILY!
MESSAGE TITLE:
Before the Crown, There Is Always a Classroom
SCRIPTURE TEXT:
“…I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord… caught up to the third heaven… heard unspeakable words… lest I should be exalted above measure… there was given to me a thorn in the flesh… I besought the Lord thrice… My grace is sufficient for thee… for My strength is made perfect in weakness… most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities… for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:1–10)
DATE: April 8, 2025
BY: EFFIONG ETOK
Carrier of God’s Word
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Every valley is Heaven’s training ground for men God wants to enthrone.
INTRODUCTION
Beloved, listen to me! Every king wears a crown, but before the crown sits, there must be a classroom! Before the throne, there is training. Before David killed Goliath, he fought the lion and the bear-alone, unseen, forgotten. That valley was his classroom!
Don’t curse your valley-it is not punishment; it’s preparation. Your pain is not pointless. That midnight cry, that betrayal, that rejection-it’s Heaven’s way of molding you. When God wants to announce a man, He first allows him to be afflicted. Why? Because the weight of your crown must match the strength of your neck!
MAIN MESSAGE
When God chooses a man, He does not first crown him-He classrooms him. David fought lions in private before facing Goliath in public. Joseph was thrown in a pit and prison before sitting in the palace. These weren’t setbacks. They were divine syllabuses!
Hear this: Weakness is the raw material for strength. Groaning is the raw material for glory. The cross is the raw material for the crown. No valley is ever wasted in the hands of God.
God sets up divine classrooms in dark seasons. He teaches in silence. He builds in hiding. He grooms you where no one is clapping so that when the applause comes, you won’t be distracted. The mountain top is not where God teaches-it’s where He rewards.
So endure your classroom! Wipe your tears and say, “Lord, teach me!” That season of loss, that delay, that heartbreak—they are divine lectures with eternal promotion ahead!
Apostle Paul visited the third heaven, yet God allowed a thorn in his flesh. Why? So he would remember: power doesn’t rest on applause-it rests on grace. God’s university does not issue degrees without trials. Your affliction is your curriculum.
That season of delay, rejection, or heartbreak? Don’t rush out of it-ask God, “What are You teaching me?” For the classroom of pain births champions of power.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. What am I learning in this present valley season?
2. Have I been trying to escape the classroom instead of asking for understanding?
3. What testimony might I bury if I give up now?
PRAYER POINTS
1. Lord, thank You for the valley seasons. Open my eyes to see the purpose behind my pain and teach me what I must learn. Grant me grace not to give up in the classroom of affliction, in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen!
2. I refuse to die in my trial. I shall not remain in the valley. I decree: I will graduate into my testimony and wear my crown, in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen!
3. Holy Spirit, lead me through this process. I intercede for my children and future generations-O God, train them in righteousness and establish their destinies for kingdom impact, in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen!
