Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
We all go through situations in our lives where we feel we’re going through the valley of the shadow of death. Those are times when we think that the current situation has no solution and we feel like it is the end.
Psalms 23 verse 4 says:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
When we put our faith in God there is no reason to fear when we are going through our valleys of shadow death. The first reason is that He is with us. The second reason is that though our physical eyes see only death in the valley, we must open our spiritual eyes to see that when we walk with our Lord what seems to be death is only “shadows” because there is no death for those who are with the giver of life.
Another aspect we need to remember about the valleys of the shadow of death is that they are needed. Yes, the valleys of the shadow of death are needed to strengthen our faith. We all like to live in the hills: the high place where everything is blessing and joy. But because of our sinful nature, after being for a while on the hills, we forget that the only reason we are there is because of Jesus. We think that we are there because of our own ability and because we deserve it. When we get to this point we cannot appreciate the hills and need to descend to the valley again.
Upon returning to the valley we realize that our efforts produce no life, but only death. That is when by God’s mercy we remember the blessings we received when we were on the hills, we lift our eyes to the hills (Psalm 121:1), and ask God for help. By recognizing our situation and that only God can help us, the presence of Jesus becomes latent, and death turns into mere shadows, helping us climb our way back to the hills.
If you’re going through a valley of death I invite you to lift your eyes to God, ask for His help. He will turn your death into shadows, and take you by the hand to his place of blessing.
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