Skip to main content

Darkest Valley


          Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

         Most of us fear the valley of the shadow of death, to use the King James Version description. As a woman, I’ve been taught that I need to be afraid to walk down the street at night all alone. Around the globe, we’re being told to fear the Wuhan virus, and every person we meet because he/she might have it and not know. According to The Coddling of the American Mind, our I-Gen (the generation after the Millennials) kids are being taught to fear anything that makes them uncomfortable. There’s a whole lot of shaking goin’ on.
           And it seems that a large part of our population has the idea that we should not have to go through darkest valleys. God and/or the government should protect us from darkest valleys, and make everything all better, or else we’ll disown him and find a god who bows to our dictates.
So, what does this part of a beloved song tell us? Nothing we want to hear. It tells us that we can expect to walk through the darkest valleys. We aren’t exempt. It isn’t that we will face no evil. There will be wolves. We can pretty much count on it.
           But God. God is with us. God has a rod with which he can keep the wolves from killing us, and he has a staff with which he can move us to where he wants us to be. His use of both com(with)-forts(strengthens) us. They may not make us feel better, but they give us the courage to keep walking. It is not that we no longer feel any fear. David didn’t say “I feel no fear.” He said I will not fear. It’s about the will, it’s about making a choice about how we are going to live as we walk through this valley.
          The truth is that we may well die in one of those darkest valleys, but we can either spend all our time focusing on that possibility, or we can enjoy the blessing that the darkest valley provides – the presence of the Shepherd.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more