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

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more